
Glass. 
Book 



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FATHER SIMON. 



MAGDALENA DIAZ. 



Maria Candelaria. 



AN HISTORIC DRAMA 



FROM 



AMERICAN ABORIGINAL LIFE. 



Daniel G. Brinton, M. D. 



i 

Philadelphia, Pa, 

David McKay, Publisher. 

1897. 



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75 



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Copyright by D. G. Brinton. 
All Rights Reserved. 



THE NSW ERA MINT, LANCASTeit. PA. 



CONTENTS, 



INTRODUCTORY. 

§ i. The Scene of the Drama, viii 

I 2. The Tzental Indians, . , viii 

\ 3. The Insurrection of the Tzentals in 

1712, „ viii 

$ 4. The Mythology of the Ancient Tzen- 
tals, viii 

1 5. The Secret Society of the Nagualists, viii 

\ 6. The Historians of the Insurrection, viii 

THE DRAMA 1 

NOTES TO THE DRAMA, 93 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Of the many revolts by which the Red Men of Amer- 
ica have endeavored to throw off the yolk of their white 
conquerors, none has impressed me as possessing more 
striking situations than that of the Tzentals, in 1 7 12. In 
it, among other features, one witnesses the extraordinary 
powers which women not unfrequently exerted among 
American tribes. In the person of its maiden heroine, 
the designer and leader of the revolt, we have a veritable 
aboriginal Joan of Arc, though one doomed to witness 
her cherished plans end in disaster. 

When minutely studying the causes and incidents of 
her attempt, they presented themselves to my mind in 
such dramatic relations that I have endeavored to convey 
a knowledge of them to others in this form. The age, 
the scene, and the accessories are, however, so unfa- 
miliar that they require somewhat full explanations, 
which I present in an introduction and notes. 

§ I. The Scene of the Drama. 
The extreme southeastern State of the Republic of 
Mexico is called Chiapa, or Las Chiapas. It adjoins 
Guatemala and Tabasco. Most of its surface is a pla- 
teau, some three thousand or more feet in elevation, 
broken by ranges of precipitate mountains and deep val- 
leys shutting in rapid streams. Its area is about twice 
that of the State of New Jersey and its climate is gener- 
ally healthful and pleasant, the tropical heats being tem- 
pered by the altitude. Vast forests cover much of the 



vi Introduction. 

soil, and the population is scanty, and mostly of native 
blood. "Here," writes Mr. Bancroft, "is an earthly 
Paradise, the charms of which have been enjoyed with 
enthusiastic delight by the few lovers of nature who have 
penetrated its solitudes." 1 

The capital is San Crist6bal, formerly called San 
Crist6bal de Ciudad Real. It is beautifully situated in a 
broad valley 6,280 feet above sea level. It has a popu- 
lation of about 8,000 souls, and is the seat of a university 
and the metropolitan city of the diocese. The second 
bishop of the see was the famous Bartolom6 de Las 
Casas, known as "the apostle of the Indians," whose 
scorching denunciations of the cruelties of the conquerors 
remain as noble evidence of his sympathy with oppressed 
humanity. 

About forty-five miles northeast of San Crist6bal was 
situated the native village of Cancuc, in and near which 
the events of this drama took place. It was burned to 
the ground by the Spaniards, and the surviving inhabi- 
tants removed to the modern hamlet of the name, some 
miles to the south. The crumbling walls of the church 
and a few mounds of debris are all that now indicate its 
site. 2 

$ 2. The Tzental Indians. 

The principal native tribe in Chiapas is the Tzentals. 
They are a branch of the widespread Mayan stock who, 
at the time of the Conquest, and long before, occupied 

1 H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific 
States, Vol. IV., p. 288. 

2 A description of the locality is given by Theobert 
Maler in the Revue d' Ethnographie, Tome* III., pp. 
306-7. 



Introduction. vii 

Yucatan, Western Honduras, most of Guatemala and 
Tabasco. Nearly all its branches had risen to a degree 
of civilization, in several respects the highest encountered 
by the whites in the New World. They were agri- 
culturists, artisans and merchants, their architecture in 
brick and stone was imposing, their governments were 
centralized and powerful, and they had developed a sys- 
tem of hieroglyphic writing far superior to the pictography 
of other tribes. 

There is reason to believe that this civilization had its 
origin in the territory of the Tzentals. Not only do the 
lines of archaeology and linguistics lead to that conclusion, 
but in their area some of the most extensive and majestic 
of the ancient ruins are located. Palenque and Ocozingo, 
Comocalco and Cintla (Tzentla), are names of such now 
familiar through the writing of Stephens, Charnay and 
other travelers. There are scores of other ruins, scarcely 
less remarkable than these, scattered from the shores of 
the Gulf to the crest of the Cordillera. 

The first European to touch their coast was Juan de 
Grijalva (1518); but the earliest explorer of the lowlands 
was Hernan Cortes (1524). He reported it as densely 
populated with numerous cities, in which an active trade 
was carried on, the chief commodities being cacao, cotton, 
dye stuffs, feathers, paints, resin, wax, salt, gum copal, 
woven goods, pottery, precious stones, beads from sea 
shells, slaves, and gold of low alloy. The cities con- 
tained lofty temples, one of the largest of which was de 
dicated to a goddess. x 

1 The description of his journey is given by Cortes in 
his Carta Quinta de Relation, which has been repeatedly 
published. 



Introduction. 

A few months earlier (Dec., 1523) Diego de Godoy 
attacked and captured Chamolla in the highlands, about 
seven miles north of San Cristobal. It was the principal 
town of the Zotzils, a tribe adjoining the Tzentals, and of 
the same language and blood. 1 

The apparent submission which followed these inva- 
sions lasted until 1528, when the Tzentals and allied 
tribes broke out in sudden insurrection. An experienced 
soldier, Diego de Mazariegos, was sent to reduce them. 
By a series of skilful movements he succeeded in driving 
their main body to the edge of a precipice, where surren- 
der or death was the only alternative. The large major- 
ity of them, men, women and children, chose the latter, 
and cast themselves into the abyss rather than submit to 
the detested whites. 2 

\ 3. The Insurrection of the Tzentals in 1J12. 

The present drama represents some of the closing scenes 
in the insurrection of the Tzentals in 1712. 

Our knowledge of this remarkable passage in American 
aboriginal history is drawn exclusively from Spanish 
writers, bitterly hostile to the native cause, incapable of 
appreciating the sentiments which inspired the insurgents, 
prompt to credit every evil story about them, and de- 
termined to deny them everything good or noble in 
thought or act. 

These accounts are somewhat fragmentary, and in 

1<f Relacion hecha por Diego Godoy a Hernando 
Cortes," in the Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, Tome 
XXII., p. 465, sqq. 

2 Herrera, Historic/. General de las Indias, Dec. III., 
p. 174. 



Introduction. ix 

places contradictory, and several are still in manuscript. 
On a later page I shall give a list of them, but here it 
will be sufficient to tell briefly the story of the revolt as I 
have made it out from their pages. 



In the winter of 1711-12, there lived in the village of 
Cancuc an Indian girl, about nineteen years of age, 
named Maria Candelaria, the latter word being the 
Spanish equivalent for the English ' ' Candlemas, ' ' from 
which festival of the Church it had doubtless been as- 
signed her. 

She appears to have been an orphan, as her aunt, 
Magdalena Diaz, is mentioned, and her uncle, Sebastian 
Gomez, but not her parents. 

This uncle is alleged to have been a priest of the 
dreaded secret organization among the Indians, known 
as the Nagualists, a fraternity which I have described 
fully in another work, and some account of which I shall 
give on a later page. Suffice it here to say that its spirit 
was intensely hostile to the Spanish government, and to 
Christianity, as represented by the Roman Catholic 
Church. 

Doubtless Maria imbibed these sentiments early and 
deeply ; but that she was merely the tool of Gomez, as is 
stated by one writer, is contradicted by the course of 
events and by the testimony of another author (Ordonez), 
who attributes to her alone ' ' all the plans of the insur- 
rection." With a deep religious temperament, brooding 
long on the wrongs inflicted on her people, she passed 
into that condition of spiritual exaltation which precedes 
and prepares a revelation of the divine prescience. 



x Introduction. 

On a certain day in the early spring of 1 7 12, at a short 
distance from the village, the Holy Virgin Mary appeared 
to Maria, and commanded her to call together the people 
and have them erect a chapel on that spot, in which 
she and her uncle, not white priests, were to conduct the 
worship. The mandate was promptly obeyed by the 
villagers, the chapel was erected, and in it Maria Can- 
delaria, who then took the name of Maria Angel de la 
Virgen, and Sebastian Gomez, who adopted that of 
Gomez de la Gloria, performed the sacred rites. 

They soon revealed other intentions than that of merely 
repeating prayers. The chapel became the center of an 
active propaganda of national liberty. Men and women 
were instructed in the plans for the overthrow of the 
white invaders, and were sent forth to incite all the Tzen- 
tal towns, and to those of affiliated tribes such as the 
Chols, Quelens and Zotzils— some say, far into Tabasco 
and Oaxaca. * 

In all this Maria was the leading spirit. In her chapel, 
immediately behind the altar which had been erected to 
the Holy Virgin, was stretched a screen of Indian matting. 
When the faithful were assembled, she would retire be- 
hind this for a short time and, reappearing, filled with the 
divine ecstasy, would pronounce the decrees of Holy 
Mary and prophetic utterances concerning the struggle in 
preparation. She chose from her own sex some of her 
most effective acolytes and apostles. 

The parish priest of Cancuc at that time was Father 

1 Ordonez y x\guiar estimates that in Chiapas alone 70,- 
000 natives were interested in the conspiracy. Historia del 
Cielo y de la Tierra, MS. 



Introduction. xi 

Simon de Lara, who must have been a non-resident, as it 
was some months before he heard of these strange doings. 
When the news reached him, he hastened to the village, 
convened the congregation, and ordered Maria to be 
brought before him. She appeared and, standing in the 
midst of the assembly, with entire calmness related the 
apparition of the Virgin and her command to construct the 
chapel. The Church, however, claims the monopoly of 
miracles, and Father Simon was far from pleased with 
this encroachment on its preserves. Probably also, he 
had some inkling that the chapel served other than relig- 
ious aims. He therefore ordered it torn down and the 
services discontinued. 

No attention was paid to his order, so he obtained from 
the Bishop of the Diocese, "the most illustrious Don 
Juan Bautista Alvarez de Toledo," a positive injunction 
to the same effect. This was also disregarded. 

Meanwhile the conspirators were rapidly pushing their 
work and completing their organization. Thirty-two 
towns of the Tzentals agreed to lend their aid, and many 
adjacent tribes promised to join the league as soon as it 
had achieved a marked success. Fighting men to the 
alleged number of fifteen thousand were enlisted. Their 
arms were spears, slings (in the use of which many were 
singularly expert), scythes, machetes, clubs and a few 
muskets. They acknowledged Maria as their leader, and 
in loyalty to her adopted the title, ' ' Soldiers of the Vir- 
gin." Their military commander, or " captain general," 
was Nicolas Vasquez, a native of Cancuc. On the 
civil side, an executive council of twelve members, called 
"major-domos," was appointed by Maria and Gomez to 
carry out their instructions. 



xii Introduction. 

The plan evidently was at a concerted signal to massa- 
cre the white male population in all the villages, and 
then to unite the forces and march rapidly on San Cris- 
tobal. This city captured, the affiliated tribes would un- 
doubtedly unite with them. 

The plan failed through the precipitate action of some 
villages and the timid procrastination of others. Prema- 
ture outbreaks occurred at Diasole and Chilun. At the 
latter town on Trinity Sunday, June, 1712, the congrega- 
tion was attacked during the mass by several hundred 
Indians, the three officiating priests were slain at the altar, 
and men, women and children were cut to pieces on the 
floor of the church. 

Similar disorders rapidly followed. The towns of 
Tenango, San Martin, Ocozingo, Tonala, Occhuc, Hue- 
teupan, Yajalon and others revolted amid scenes of more 
or less bloodshed. At Occhuc, two friars were thrown 
into pits and stoned to death; at Simijovel, they burnt 
the church and hanged the priest; at Tonala, they slew 
Father de Andrada at the altar; and so on, the ecclesias- 
tics being the objects of their especial hatred. 

By the beginning of August the insurrection was at its 
flood- tide, and on the tenth of that month a grand festi- 
val was held at Cancuc in celebration of its success. 
Maria presided as high priestess and queen of the liber- 
ated nation. By her command, all the silver vessels, 
ornaments, money and books, which had been taken from 
the churches were brought to Cancuc and placed in her 
custody. They were concealed somewhere by her order 
and were never afterwards recovered. 

During the festival a general council of war was held, 



Introduction. xiii 

at which she also presided and promulgated the laws of 
the new state, "the main bearings of which," says the 
historian Ordonez, ' ' were that there should not remain a 
trace to indicate that a European had ever stepped on the 
soil of her land." Her words, according to another, 
were that thenceforth there should be in her domain 
" neither bishop nor priest, taxes nor king." 

On that day Maria Candelaria was at the acme of her 
power and glory, undisputed and absolute mistress of her 
nation and its resources, commanding a victorious army of 
many thousand warriors who idolized her as more than a 
queen, almost as an actual, living goddess. 

But soon the cankers of envy, cowardice and treachery 
made themselves felt. Word came from Chamolla that 
it would not join the league ; Sinacantla, which had 
joined, was induced to withdraw by the efforts of its 
priest; some of Maria's prominent supporters in Can cue 
itself, infected by fear or bribed by Spanish gold, began 
to express doubts of success and advise negotiations ; even 
Maria's own aunt, Magdalena Diaz, jealous of her niece's 
success, denounced her as an imposter, and offered her- 
self as the only member of her family who was divinely 
inspired ! 

In the face of such perfidy and poltroonery, and in 
such perilous surroundings, what could Maria do but re- 
sort to the severest measures? It is reported that she 
did ; that she ordered the chief malcontents to be burned 
alive and her aunt to be hanged, Spanish soldiers and 
spies to be flogged to death, and thieving natives to suffer 
a similar fate. Her laws were iron, and were carried 
out with an iron will. Only such implacable justice, she 



xiv Introduction. 

believed, could save her nation's cause in that desperate 
crisis. If such cruelty shocks us, we must bear in mind 
that in that time and place it was as much a trait of the 
white as of the red race, of the Christian soldiery as of 
the heathen insurgents. 

Meanwhile the general plan of campaign was actively 
pushed. A strong body of warriors was sent to Los 
Moyos on the main road to Tabasco, to check the Span- 
ish reinforcements coming from that province under its 
alcalde mayor, Don Juan Francisco de Medina Cachen ; 
and another occupied a strong position at Hueteopan, 
commanding another main road from the south. Cancuc 
itself was fortified with an earthen wall surmounted by 
palisades, with a deep exterior ditch. 

The main aim of the campaign, the capture of San 
Cristobal, was kept steadily in view. The chief strategic 
outpost of that city was San Pedro Huistlan, a village 
eighteen miles north of it, admirably situated for military 
purposes, and defended by a garrison of one hundred 
musketeers under the command of Don Francisco de 
Monge. 

The capture of this position was indispensable to an 
advance upon San Cristobal, and Vasquez clearly per- 
ceived it. Toward the close of September he marched 
upon it at the head — say the Spanish chroniclers — of 
fifteen thousand warriors ; though probably five thousand 
would be more correct. 

Accustomed to the servile subjection of the natives, the 
Spaniards had awakened slowly to a perception of the 
dangers which threatened them. For months after the 
massacre at Chilun, little preparations for war were made. 



Introduction. xv 

At length they began, characteristically, with a public 
procession and prayer (plegaria) to a famous image of 
the Virgin de la Caridad, at San Cristobal. When Huist- 
lan was threatened, the alcalde mayor of San Cristobal, 
Don Pedro Gutierrez, gathered some soldiers and pro- 
ceeded to its relief ; but his slow movements and ignor- 
ance of military matters rendered his assistance of little 
avail. The superior natural advantages of the position, 
however, enabled Monge to hold it successfully, and to 
repulse with considerable loss several desperate assaults of 
the insurgents. 

It became evident to the Audiencia General of Guate- 
mala, to which department Chiapas was at that time at- 
tached, that greater energy was necessary. Don Pedro 
Gutierrez was relieved, and the command given to Don 
Nicolas de Segovia, an officer of the old conquistador 
type, and already experienced in the tactics of Indian 
warfare. He promptly enlisted several hundred men 
whom he armed with muskets, and having no artillery, 
he employed a Dominican prior, brother Francisco Mon- 
toya, who understood the art of casting, to construct a 
good-sized mortar. The rumors about this frightful and 
unheard-of engine of destruction terrified the Indians, 
who spoke of it with awe as "the mother of muskets." 

By about the 20th of October he was ready, and 
marched to the relief of Huistlan. A sanguinary battle 
ensued. The Indians under Vasquez fought desperately, 
but were defeated and put to flight with heavy loss. 
Segovia marched rapidly in pursuit, and threw his forces 
into Occhuc, a strong position about twelve miles from 
Cancuc, and on a main road to that place. He repulsed 



xvi Introduction. 

several assaults of the natives, and in a few days had 
completed his preparations for the siege of their main po- 
sition and capital, Cancuc. About November loth he 
moved forward and camped in immediate proximity to it. 

Here he was joined by the President of the Audiencia 
General, Don Toribio Cocio, with important reinforce- 
ments, which raised the effective of the army to over a 
thousand well-armed soldiers. The President, in his 
official report, largely ignores Segovia' s services, but it is 
evident from the other accounts that the latter alone was 
the military head of the expedition, and deserves the 
credit of its success. 

The defeat of the native forces at Huistlan was a severe 
moral as well as a military blow to the insurgents. The 
faith of many of them in their virgin prophetess began to 
waver. Other losses soon followed. A band of their 
warriors entrenched in a strong position near the village 
of San Martin endeavored to check the advance of Presi- 
dent Cocio. They were routed and the town burned to 
the ground by his orders. Intimidated by this example, 
several villages offered their submission. 

Their general, Vasquez, had lost his prestige but not 
his life. He escaped at Huistlan, but nothing more is 
heard of him. Evidently both Maria and her warriors de- 
manded a general who was more skilful or more fortunate. 
She selected and appointed one in the person of Juan 
Garcia. 

From some expressions in regard to him this Garcia 
appears to have been of mixed blood. The energy, 
bravery and skill which he exhibited have won for him 
the eulogiums of later historians. That he fell a martyr 



Introduction. xvii 

to the cause of national freedom deserves to ennoble his 
memory. There is no direct evidence that he bore to 
Maria the relation I have assigned in the drama; but the 
facts, that he was her personal choice, and that his devo- 
tion to her ended only with his death, permit us to 
imagine it. 

The end was rapidly approaching. Segovia led sev- 
eral unsuccessful assaults upon the walls and entrench- 
ments around Cancuc, in one of which he was wounded. 
His troops were foiled by the vigilance of Garcia and his 
followers. 

At length, on November 2 1st, the Spanish forces were 
concentrated and a determined charge made on the walls. 
After a hot fight, a breach was effected, the natives gave 
way, and the Spanish soldiery poured into the town. 
The torch was quickly applied to its combustible huts, 
and the inhabitants fled in disorder. 

Juan Garcia did not yield. Gathering around him as 
many of the fugitives as he could, he retired to the slope 
of the mountain and hastily threw up entrenchments. 
Segovia pushed forward, and attacked his position. 
Garcia fought to the last, but was finally overpowered, 
captured, and promptly hanged, along with his chief 
companions in arms. 

And what became of Maria and her uncle in this anni- 
hilation of their town, their army and their hopes ? No 
one knows. It is certain that they were not killed or 
captured, either then or later ; and no promise of reward 
or threat of punishment could ever after tempt their 
tribesmen to disclose their fate. Vain were the persistent 
efforts of the military and clergy to trace them. They 
were never heard of more. 



xviii Introduction. 

Such is the brief story of the revolt of the Tzentals in 
1712. Other details about it need not occupy us. Its 
vivid events center around one strange figure, the virgin 
priestess, the inspired champion of her nation's liberty, 
the ecstatic sibyl of her country's destinies. It ended 
with her disappearance. 

My effort in the drama has been to narrate these facts 
with general historical fidelity ; to portray faithfully the 
conflicting sentiments of those who participated in the 
struggle ; and to frame the whole as accurately as possible 
in the costumes, coloring and inspiration of the time and 
place. 

The position which Maria assumed as leader of the 
revolt was strictly analogous to that of several other 
heroines of the Mayan tribes known to history. In the 
earliest annals of the conquest we read of Coamizagual, 
queen and sole ruler of the state of Cerquin in Honduras, 
which she had founded by her own valor and skill, and 
adorned with imposing structures in stone, still remaining 
to attest her greatness. 1 In the latest insurrections the 
story is repeated. When the Tzentals, in 1869, again 
revolted, the most prominent figure was the "mystical 
woman," as she was called, Augustina Gomez Chech eb, 
the oracle of the ancient gods and chief inciter to war ; 2 
and in 1885, when the Kekchis of Guatemala, under the 

1 Herrera, Historia de las Indias Occidentals, Dec. IV. 
Lib. VIII., Cap. 4. Cerquin was close to the celebrated 
ruined city of Copan. 

2 Vicente Pineda, Historia de las Sublevaciones Indi- 
genas en Chiapas. Cap. IV. She was known to the whites 
as " Santa Rosa." (Theobert Maler, in Revue d> Eth- 
nographic, Tome III., p. 309.) 



Introduction. xix 

leadership of Juan de la Cruz, attacked the white forces, 
it was still a woman, an inspired virgin, who gave them 
their orders in the gloomy cave-temple of Xucaneb. 1 

The appointment of a woman to the primacy of the 
priesthood in the native religion of the Tzentals dates back 
to their famed culture hero Votan, himself. By the 
breath of his mouth he hollowed out his cave temple in 
the rocks near Tlazoaloyan, and in it stored the sacred 
books and magical images. On his departure, he assigned 
it to a number of custodians, and as chief of them all or- 
dained a high priestess, who was always to be succeeded 
by one of her own sex. So it continued until 169 1, when, 
as Votan still delayed his return, the Christian custodian 
revealed the secret to her bishop, who promptly burned 
the holy relics in the town square. 2 

To some it may seem that the sentiments attributed to 
Maria are at times above what an Indian girl could have 
developed. I would ask such readers to bear in mind 
that she belonged to the highest type of the red race; to 
a tribe many of whom could at that time read and write 
in their own language as well as in Spanish; as is clearly 
shown by one of her laws that no one should be appointed 
to a high position in her state who could not read; and 
who were as intelligent and certainly less bigoted than 
their white instructors. 3 Not, therefore, the savage of 

1 Dr. Carl Sapper, in Intemat. Archiv fur Ethnog- 
raphic, 1895, p. 205. 

2 The bishop was Nufiez de la Vega, who narrates the 
incident himself in his Constituciones Diocesanas, fol. 7, 
and gives a list of the objects found in the cave. 

3 The Tzental dialect was reduced to writing first by 
Father Domingo de Ara, who died in 1572. His manu- 



xx Introduction. 

our western plains, nor yet the semi- civilized Aztec or 
Maya of the time of Cortes, represents the native American 
with whom I am dealing, but the originally most ad- 
vanced of the race after two hundred years of further 
development under conditions of European civilization 
and Christian instruction, such as they were. 

To others it may appear incongruous that, along with a 
rejection of Christianity and a return to heathen practices, 
some of the tenets of the Roman Church, especially its 
Mariolatry and its saint-worship, should be in part re- 
tained. This, however, is literally true to-day of the in- 
dependent Santa Cruz Indians of Yucatan, and is con- 
stantly disclosed in the essentially heathen prayers of the 

script dictionary of it, two copies of which are in my pos- 
session (Spanish and Tzental), contains about ten thous- 
and words. It was completed in 1560. A considerable 
number of devotional works were composed in the tongue 
by Father de Ara, Father Manuel Diez, Father Bartholom6 
Temporal and others, concerning which the inquiring 
reader may consult the Abbe Brasseur's Bibliotheque 
Mexico- Gtmtemalienne (Paris, 1871), and J. C. Pilling' s 
Bibliography of North American Languages. The natives 
also wrote much in their own tongue, as is especially men- 
tioned by Nunez de la Vega, in his Constituciones Dio- 
cesanas del Obispado de Chiapas (Rome, 1701). These 
native writings were principally about their astrology, 
magic and genealogies, and for that reason were destroyed 
by the Catholic priests wherever discovered. One of 
them, which belonged to Don Ordonez y Aguiar, canon of 
the cathedral of San Cristobal, and a local antiquary, was 
seen by Don Felix de Cabrera in the latter part of the 
last century, and is quite fully described by him in a work 
which has been translated into English and appended to 
Captain Antonio del Rio's description of the ruins of 
Palenque (London, 1 822). 



Introduction. xxi 

Nagualists and padrinos which, have been published by 
various writers. 1 

Again, the monotheism which is expressed at the close 
of the second act is distinctively native American, as I have 
shown in my Myths of the New World'* and the senti- 
ments of human brotherhood and charity are such as 
were attributed to the teachings of the hero-god Quetzal- 
coatl, long before Cortes sighted the shores of Anahuac, 
and to those of Tunapa in Peru. 3 

We should be justified in portraying Maria as beautiful, 
even according to our own standards ; for precisely in the 
Tzental country the traveler Stephens met a native girl of 
such "extraordinary beauty" that he makes emphatic 
note of it. 4 

The native sacred costumes described are archseolog- 

1 For instance, those of the modern Mayas given by 
the Abbe Brasseur in the introduction to his Elements de la 
Langue Maya (Paris, 1870) ; those obtained by Dr. Carl 
Sapper from the Kekchis of Guatemala {Internal. Archiv 
fur Ethnographie, 1 895) ; and those of the Quiches, pub- 
lished from manuscript sources in my work on Nagualism 
(Philadelphia, 1895). In spite of the cordial dislike en- 
tertained by the natives toward the Roman Church and 
its priests, its beautiful legends and its lessons of love 
were never entirely forgotton by them. 

2 Chap. II. Third Edition. Philadelphia, 1896. 

3 By divers writers the teachings of Quetzalcoatl have 
been assimulated to those of Christ ; and Pachacuti 
claims that the oldest authentic accounts of Tunapa's 
doctrines showed them " almost the same " as the moral 
precepts of the Christian Church ( Tres Relaciones Peru- 
anas, p. 237). 

*It was at the picturesque village of Yajalon. J. L. 
Stephens, Travels in Central America, Chiapas and 
Yucatan, vol. II., p. 265. 



xxii Introduction. 

ically accurate as described by Sahagun and Palacios. 
The cuts illustrating the ordinary dress of the country 
are borrowed from Consul Haefken's " Centraal Amerika" 
(Dordrecht, 1832.). 

§4. The Mythology of the Ancient Tzentals, 

Very little information concerning the mythology of the 
Tzentals has been preserved. The still unpublished Mss. 
of the early missionary, Father Domingo de Ara (in my 
possession) and of Ordonez y Aguiar supply a few but 
valuable particulars. The rare work of Nunez de la Vega, 
Bishop of Chiapas in 1690, contains some hints; and a 
comparison with the well preserved Quiche mythology and 
that of the Mayas, both of whom were neighbors and 
kinsmen, furnish some suggestions. Mainly from these 
sources I present the following sketch. 

The greatest of the gods, Father and Creator of all 
things visible, was called Patol, a name derived from the 
verbal root pat, to make, to mould or form. Associated 
with him as co-laborer, was the chief of goddesses, whose 
titles were Alaghom Naom, "Mother of Knowledge" 
( from alaghib, the womb, or, alaghon, to conceive ; and 
na, knowledge); and Iztat-Ix, "the Woman of Wis- 
dom" (the adjective, iztat, skilled, learned, wise, with 
the feminine suffix). 

In this, dual conception of the creative powers, there- 
fore, it will be noted that the male element represents 
the material, the female element the immaterial and in- 
tellectual principle, as it did in Greek mythology (Pallas 
Athene, Psyche, etc. ) 

The gods who were principally associated with the 



Introduction. xxiii 

national legendary history bore the names of the days in 
the astrological calendar. The most celebrated was 
Votdn, who by tradition, was the leader of their ancestors 
when they first came to Chiapas. Certain families claim- 
ing descent from him lived a century ago, and may yet, 
at Teopisca, a village eighteen miles southeast from San 
Cristobal. The Votan myth has greatly exercised anti- 
quaries and given occasion for the wildest speculation, 
as that he was identical with the Wodan of the Norsemen, 
etc. 

One of his companions was Been, who is said to have 
parcelled out the land among the primitive immigrants, 
and to have marked their boundaries by erecting tall line- 
stones, a number of which are still pointed out, and to 
this day are decorated by the Indians with flowers and 
wreaths. 

To a third, Cam, is attributed the discovery of the an- 
cient hieroglyphic writing, and a fourth, Chinax, was a 
famous warrior; while a fifth, Cuculchan, was remem- 
bered as a magician of extraordinary powers, which his 
name, meaning "The Feathered Serpent," mystically in- 
dicates. 

The star-spangled nocturnal sky was referred to as 
"The Divine Serpent," Chul Chan; and the morning 
star was looked upon as its guardian spirit, whence its 
name, Canan Chul Chan, "guardian or keeper of the 
divine serpent." The Earth was assigned an analogous 
guardian deity, who bore a similar name, Canan Lum, 
who was supposed to appear at times in the form of a 
tiger. 

A deity of wide fame was Poxlon, the teacher of magic 



xxiv Introduction. 

and medicine. He presided over the exorcisms by which 
the adepts sought to cure disease, and was supposed to 
appear in the shape of a ball of fire with flowing, fiery 
hair, like a comet or shooting star. His name means 
" the blower," and has reference to the forcible blowing 
of the breath, which was a prominent feature 'in the native 
shamanistic rites. 

When these failed the patient, the God of Death ap- 
peared, whose ominous titles were Pucugh, "The De- 
stroyer," and Hob cux, "Who sucks out Life." He 
seized the soul and carried it to the underworld, Calin 
bac, "The Place of Imprisonment" (from kal, to shut 
up). 

The god of war was leal Ahau, "The Black Chief- 
tain." His idol, which long remained an object of wor- 
ship among the Tzentals, had a ferocious visage and was 
painted black. Bishop de la Vega discovered one be- 
hind the rafters of the church at Occhuc, in 1690. 

The figure seated cross-legged on a tiger, which has 
been found at Ococingo, Palenque and elsewhere in 
Chiapas, and which some antiquaries have called a 
"Buddha," represents the deity which presided over 
certain cycles of days, months or years in the astrological 
calendar. 

Numerous minor deities are referred to, a goddess of 
cacao, of maize, of the merchants, etc., and there were 
others of states of mind or habits, as Pactayegh Chul, god 
of lying, Taghmai Chul, god of jesting; and so of drunk- 
enness, travelling, etc. The elements were personified 
and worshipped, and the hand was a sacred emblem. 
Nature was conceived to be perpetuated through the 



Introduction. xxv 

reciprocal action of the male and female principles, as is 
manifest in the Quiche and Maya myths. 

The principal symbolic animals were the tapir, the 
serpent, the bird and the tiger. Their exact significance 
has not yet been ascertained, though probably the tapir 
had some connection with sun-worship, the serpent with 
the sky and storms, the bird with the winds and the tiger 
with the earth. 

$ 5- The Secret Society of the Nagualists. 

According to one of the writers on this insurrection (Or- 
donez), it had its origin in the machinations of the native 
secret society of the Nagualists. 

This mysterious organization dated from before the con- 
quest, and probably continues to the present day among 
the Indians of Mexico and Central America. It is a sur- 
vival in part of the ancient priestly caste, blending the 
old pagan rites with modern Christian superstitions, and 
persistently hostile to the church and state introduced by 
the European invaders. 

Its name is derived from the root na, knowledge, and 
has reference to the mystic or thaumaturgic knowledge 
which in primitive thought is synonymous with magical 
power. The nagual is the personal spirit, the alter ego 
or daiinon of the individual. Through its aid the adept 
can practice sorcery, cause or cure disease, conjure 
demons, cast spells, forecast the future, and especially 
acquire the power of " shape- shifting," that is, transform- 
ing himself at will into some animal. 

The organization of the society was well defined, con- 
sisting of acolytes, sub-priests, priests and high-priests. 



xxvi Introduction. 

The acolytes were taught in classes, and were obliged to 
undergo severe ordeals and initiations. It is especially 
noteworthy that not only were all these grades open to 
women, but in several well-known instances, these occu- 
pied the most responsible positions in the sodality. 

The meetings of the initiates were held at night, either 
in some secluded forest dell or, when practicable, in caves. 
A number of such cave-temples have been described by 
writers. They contained the idols of the ancient gods, 
cups for burning incense (gum copal), votive offerings, 
etc. The religious rites solemnized included songs, 
dances, prayers and invocations addressed to the gods, to 
the four elements, to the sacred symbolic animals and to 
the reciprocal (generative) principles of nature. A num- 
ber of such invocations have been preserved. They re- 
veal a strange jumble of pagan and Christian religious 
notions, and are couched in a curious metaphorical jar- 
gon, unintelligible except to the initiated. 

The fundamental tenet of Nagualism, as already said, 
was hatred of the Spanish civil and ecclesiastical rule, 
and the aim which kept it alive was the hope of destroy- 
ing the white supremacy. One who has dispassionately 
studied the record of the treatment of the Indians by 
both the Church and the State in that land, will be 
forced to sympathize with the native population in this 
hope, and will be tempted to excuse even the utmost 
lengths to which it carried them. While now and then 
there was a righteous judge, or a priest inspired by truly 
Christian love, the majority were greedy, cruel and de- 
praved. The influence they exerted brutalized and de- 
based the native population, and made their lives one 



Introduction. xxvii 

long story of misery and injustice. This is fully acknowl- 
edged by some of the most enlightened modern writers 
on the subject, studying it on the spot. 1 

§ 6. The Historians of the Insurrection. 

No satisfactory account of this insurrection has been 
published, and the materials from which to prepare one 
are not easily accessible. 

An official report of the war and its results was drawn 
up in 1713 by President Cocio, and sent to Spain. One 
or more copies of it were retained in America and are 
apparently now in Mexico, as the historian Vicente 
Pineda quotes it frequently, and appears to base his his- 
tory principally upon it. 2 I cannot learn that it has been 
printed. 

Another contemporary account, by an eye-witness, is 
the report of Father Pedro Marselino Garcia. This is 
now in the library of Mr. H. H. Bancroft, and was ex- 
clusively followed by him in the chapter he devotes to 
this occurrence. He states that the manuscript is in- 
complete and not easily read. 3 

1 1 mention especially the work of Don Francisco Pi- 
mentel, Memoria sobre las Causas que han originado la 
Situacion actual de la Raza Indigena (Mexico, 1 864) ; 
and Apolinar Garcia y Garcia, Historia de la Guerra de 
Castas de Yucatan (Merida, 1865). 

2 Informe del Excelentissimo Presidente de la Real Au- 
diencia de Guatemala Don Toribio Cocio al Rey de Espana. 
According to Beristain, a copy was in the library of the 
University of Mexico. Biblioteca Hispano- Americana, 
sub voce, "Cosio." 

8 Informe sobre la Sublevacion de los Zendales. See 
H. H. Bancroft, The History of Central America, Vol. 
II., p. 705. 



xxviii Introduction. 

An anonymous contemporary relation is mentioned by 
Mr. E. G. Squier as existing in the library of the Domini- 
can monastery of Guatemala ; I have not been able to 
learn further about it. 1 

Father Francisco Ximenes, a Dominican monk, who 
wrote a history of Chiapas about the year 1720, treated of 
the insurrection at length in the fourth volume of his 
work ; 2 but this seems to have been lost. 

In the latter part of the century (about 1 780) Don 
Ramon de Ordonez y Aguiar, who was a presbyter of the 
cathedral at San Cristobal, wrote a curious work on the 
native myths. 3 It has never been printed, but I have ex- 
amined a copy which is extant in the United States, and 
from it I have gleaned some interesting particulars about 
the heroine of the drama. He alone preserves her early 
name, "Candelaria." 

The historian of Guatemala, Domingo Juarros, whose 
work was published in 1808, describes the circumstances 
of the revolt with brevity from official documents in the 
city of Guatemala ; 4 and the archbishop Garcia Pelaez, in 
his historical collection issued in 185 1, gives an interest- 
ing description of twenty-two paintings, executed by the 

1 Relacion de la Sublevacion de los Zendales, in E. G. 
Squier, Monograph of Authors on the Languages of 
Central America, p. 56. 

2 Francisco Ximenes, Historia de la Provincia de San 
Vincente de Chiapas. That it treated of the insurrection 

is stated by Garcia Pelaez, Memorias Historicas, Tom. 
II., p. 152. 

3 Historia de la Creadon del Cielo y de la Tierra con- 
forme al sistema de la Gentilidad A??ierica7ia, MS. 

* Compendio de la Historia de la Ciudad de Guatemala. 
2 vols. 



Introduction. xxix 

order of President Cocio, illustrating various incidents 
of the war. 1 

Of the modern historians of Chiapas, Emetorio Pineda 
follows Juarros and adds nothing new ; 2 while the more 
carefully prepared work of Vicente Pineda is claimed by 
the author to be based largely on traditions handed down 
orally since the revolt. 3 He also personally visited many 
of the scenes of the conflicts, which adds to the clearness 
of his narrative. 

1 Memorias para la Historia del antiguo Reyno de 
Guatemala. 2 vols. 

2 Description Geografica de Chiapas y Soconusco. 
Mexico, 1845. 

3 Historia de las Stiblevaciones Indigenas en Chiapas. 
(Chiapas, 1888.) 





THE ALCALDE. 



JACINTO, THE MULETEER. 



MARIA CANDELARIA. 



DRAMATIS PERSONS. 

Don Nicolas de Segovia, Commander of the 
Spanish Forces. 
Father Simon de Lara, Cura of Cancuc. 
Balthasar, a Sergeant of the Spanish Forces. 



Sebastian Gomez, high priest of 
the Nagualists and maternal uncle of 
Maria. 

Nicolas Vasojjez, Commander of 
the insurgents. 

Juan Garcia, a young man, after- 
wards Commander. 

Antonio, a leader of the insurgents. 

Jose, an old man. 

Jacinto, a muleteer. 

The Alcalde (Magistrate) of Can- 
cuc. 

Geronymo, a secret agent of the 
Spaniards. 



Maria Candelaria, a native girl of 20 years, 
niece of Sebastian Gomez, and priestess of the 
Nagualists. 

Magdalena Diaz, paternal aunt of Maria. 



Indians 

of 
Cancuc 

and 
vicinity. 



Spanish Soldiers, Indian Warriors, Villagers, 
Acolytes of the Nagualists. 



Place : In and near the Indian village of Cancuc, 
in the province of Chiapas, Mexico. 
Time: November, 17 12. 

3 



MARIA CANDELARIA. 
ACT I. 

Scene I. The Plaza of Cancuc. Jose, Jacinto, 
Geronymo, the Alcalde. 

Jose. What news, what news, Jacinto ? 

Jacinto. Good news, Jose, the best of news. 
' ' No more priests and no more taxes, no king 
and no laws." So says she, our hamlet's 
pride and glory. 

Jose. Aye, Jacinto, so she says. But can 
we trust a woman, and a young one at that, 
scarce past her first communion ? Why, man, 
I knew her father well, dead, God rest his soul, 
long since. 

Jacinto. Must every one be an idiot whose 
father you knew ? I come in there, so have a 
care. But here comes Geronymo, as full of 
news, I warrant, as an egg of meat, and as 
very an ass withal, as if you had known both 
his father and mother. Ho ! Geronymo, what 
news? 

Geronymo. Oh ! wonders ! I kiss my hands 
5 



6 Maria Candelaria. 

to you both. But you know all my news. 
You know all about the revolt and the murders. 

Jacinto. Nay, I have been with my mules in 
the mountains for six weeks. 

Jose. And I in my maize field since the 
second planting month. 

Geronymo. Yes, true, you are like the other 
poor fools of Indians who can never think or 
dream of anything higher than a corn-stalk. 
Well, you know that our little Maria of Cancuc 
saw the .blessed Maria, down by the stream in 
the seeding month, and that by her command 
we built a chapel on the very spot, and that 
Father Simon, when he heard of it, though 
Maria told him as straight a story as the Credo 
itself, ordered us to tear it down, and you 
know that we took good care not to do any- 
thing of the kind. 

Jose and Jacinto. Oh, yes ! We know this. 
Geronymo. You do? Well, I'll tell you 
something you don't know. Why did the 
Father want the chapel torn down? Ah ! that's 
a secret. But I'll tell you. Because old Se- 
bastian Gomez, Maria's uncle, prayed queer 
prayers. They began to the Blessed Virgin 



Maria Candelaria. 7 

and ended to the Holy Tapir ! from God to 
dog, wasn't it? Then some sneaking spy told 
of the twelve apostles sent to the thirty-two 
villages of our language, as well as to the Chols 
and Quelens. The priests want to keep the 
preaching business for themselves, so down must 
come the chapel and old Gomez would have 
been in the parish prison with a chance for 
the gallows, when, bang ! came that ugly busi- 
ness at Chilun — three Padres murdered at the 
altar and the white women and children ripped 
up on the church floor ; you heard about that, 
on Trinity Sunday ? 

Jose. An ugly business, as you say. Pray 
Santiago we dc not pay dearly for it. {Enter 
the Alcalde. ) Seiior Alcalde, what think you 
of it? 

Alcalde. I am an important person, Alcalde 
of Cancuc. I give no hasty opinion on any 
subject. 

Jacinto. It was not half so bad as they 
treated our forefathers. 

Gerony77io. Good or bad, Father Simon took 
to his heels for San Cristobal. They say he is 
now coming back with Don Nicolas de Segovia 
and a thousand muskets behind him. 



8 Maria Candelaria. 

Jose and Jacinto. Holy Jesu ! A thousand 
muskets ? 

Geronymo. Yes, indeed. And one bigger 
round than the trunk of a ceiba tree, the very 
mother of muskets, made by Father Montoya, 
a famed magician. It can throw red hot balls 
as big as your head for two leagues and never 
miss. There will be a fine chance for us then, 
won't there? 

Jacinto. Terrible, terrible. But our brave 
leader Vasquez has ten thousand warriors, and 
he will drive the whites into the ocean whence 
they came. Is that not so, Alcalde ? 

Alcalde. This is a leading question; I will 
consider it. 

Geronymo. Vasquez? ah, Vasquez. Great 
warrior ! Fine general ! But hold ! I see 
you have not heard about him. He attacked 
the commander Don Francisco Monge at 
Huistlan. Don Nicolas de Segovia hastened 
there with two hundred muskets and with the im- 
age of the Virgin of La Caridad. She was might- 
ier than the nagual of Vasquez. His eagle was 
floating in the air and Don Nicolas shot it 
with his arquebus. A hundred or more of our 



Maria Candelaria. 9 

poor Indians were left on the field and Vasquez 
ran away. But the magicos say he has not 
long to live. His nagual is dead. 

Jose. Alas ! And who could take his place ? 

Geronymo. You may well ask. No one. 

Jacinto. Indeed there is. One from our own 
town. You all know him. A youth full of 
courage and strength, devoted to our cause — 
Juan Garcia. 

Geronymo. Garcia ! Juan Garcia ! Why, 
man, he is a mestizo. In his veins runs the 
accursed blood of Spain. 

Jacinto. Nay, not a mestizo, at most a 
coyote ; and not a beat of his heart that is for 
priests or kings. 

Jose. Juan Garcia ! Yes. A proper boy \ 
but pshaw ! What is he for a general ? Why, 
I knew his father and his grandfather ! 

[Exeunt all but the Ale aide. ~\ 

The Alcalde. {Alone.) Now by the blessed 
saints, — or by our ancient gods, — 

For faith, the times are such I know not which 
to say, — 

Was ever so perplexed a leading man like me ? 



io Maria Candelaria. 

Conscientious doubts may worry lesser minds, 
But we, the statesmen born and diplomats 

astute, 
Are tethered to no tenets, but with a sense 

acute 
Of where our interest lies, we shrewdly look 

around, 
And on the winning side will generally be 

found. 



Maria Candelaria. 1 1 



Scene II. In the house of Magdalena Diaz, in Can- 
cue. 

Sebastian Gomez in ordinary dress. {Shirt of en 
at the neck, short embroidered jacket, wide sash, 
knee breeches.) 

Nicolas Vasojjez, in Spanish half-armor, -with a 
short sword. 

Magdalena, dressed as a Creole married woman, 
short skirt, low necked chemise and mantilla. 

Later Maria, in native costume. [A short blue skirt, 
white chemisette, embroidered short silk jacket, 
bare head, hair braided, falling down the back. 

Gomez. It matters little 'gainst the general 
aim 
That we have lost the fight at Huistlan. 
It should but nerve us to more bloody deeds, 
So to avenge the friends that there were slain. 
I tell you, Vasquez, for the hundredth time, 
That any mercy toward the whites we show 
Is utmost folly, fatal to our cause. 
We must decide to crush them wholly out, 
To hunt them down as were they ven'mous 

snakes, 
And drive the remnant back across the sea. 
Their priests who used to whip us to the mass, 
We'll beat to death with their own crucifix, 



12 Maria Candelana. 

To prove our gods are mightier than their 

Christ. 
The selfish planters who have ground us down 
With endless tasks, then robbed us of our pay, 
We'll tie to stakes, and flog until they drop. 
Nor shall their women 'scape our just revenge; 
Their cries and groans shall not avert our 

knives, 
Nor yet the tender wail of infancy 
Wake in our hearts a merciful response. 
For twice a century's years we've mildly borne 
The heartless grinding of the despot heel, 
Our daughters outraged, and our sons enslaved, 
Our foreheads branded, and our backs a-bleed ; 
And he who grumbled, straight was sped away 
To die in mines or at the galley's oar. 
Think of this, Vasquez, when your mood grows 

mild. 

Vasquez. I quail not, Gomez, at the Spanish 
arms; 
Nor care I, Gomez, how the priests may curse ; 
There's blood upon my sword from Spanish 

hearts ; 
But true it is, I turned my face away, 
When I saw infants brained against the trees. 
When I drink blood, I like it from a man, 



Maria Candelaria. 1 3 

Not from a babe or girl ;— but, leaving that, 

How shall we mend our fall at Huistlan ? 

Our tribes are frightened, and they tremble 

sore 
Lest once again our strength shall be subdued, 
And bitterer than before our bonds shall be. 

Gomez. I swear you, Vasquez, this time we 
shall win ; 
Have I not read it in the mystic book, 
Our people's book, which tells what is to come, 
Limning it forth in picture and in glyph, 
Framed by the prophets of our glorious eld ? 
They saw it in the curls of circling smoke, 
The primal water showed it in its depth ; 
The gleaming crystal painted it in hues ; 
The sacred herbs revealed it to their dreams ; 
More than all this — for people now care most 
For what is present, rather than the past, — 
Has not my niece, Maria, as you know, 
Foretold the same, inspired by ancient gods, 
Gods of our tribe, whose names are not forgot 
By us who constitute the sacred guild, 
And keep alive the fires within the caves ? 

Magdalena. I like not, uncle, thus to see 
you put 
Unwavering credence in that girl's vagaries. 



14 Maria Candelaria. 

I hold her quite as dear as you — but yet, 
I doubt a girl's a prophet when in love, 
Or else they'd never make such sorry choice, 
And never be the fools they often are ; 
And so I think Maria's — 

Gomez. {Alarmed.) Maria's what? 

Mag. Too much in love to live among the 
gods, 
When handsome Juan Garcia is in sight. 

Gomez. My God ! If that is so, then all is 
lost. 
Her power among the tribe is wholly gone, 
If she descends below Queen Mary's height, 
Or yields admission to a carnal thought. 
But stay ! If this is so, how can it be 
That I have not perceived it of myself? 

Mag. What recks an old man of the shafts of 
love? 
He sees them not because he feels them not ; 
I tell you that I know whereof I speak. 

Vasquez. Let me a word on this occasion 
say 
Which surely I believe will cure the doubt. 
Oft have I heard Maria stir the hearts 
Of all our tribe with forceful, fiery speech, 



Maria Candelaria. 15 

Hurl withering curses on the Spanish fry, 
And wake the dullest to determined deed. 
Filled full she surely is of godlike power, 
Of desperate resolve and dire intent ; 
Nor can I credit that a mortal man, 
Be he the handsomest of all our tribe, . 
Could cast a shadow o'er her maiden soul. 
Call her before us — she stands just without — 
And straightly question her concerning him. 

Mag. {Calling Maria.') Come within. 

Maria. {Enters i7i a trance-like state.) 
What will you with me ? 
Call me not lightly, for I seem to hear 
The shouts of warriors in the upper air, 
Wild songs of triumph over white-faced foes, 
Chanting the death notes of the Spanish power, 
Singing the advent of our ancient rule, 
Our gods returning and our people free. 
The vision pales before me ; O my friends, 
Leave me a little, lest it scape my eyes. 

Mag. Such pretty dreamful moments, my 
dear niece, 
Were sweet and proper in their fitting time ; 
But these have serious matters for you here. 
They think you dream of quite material things 



1 6 Maria Candelaria. 

As well as visions in the upper air ; 

For instance, Juan Garcia' s handsome eyes. 

Maria. Juan Garcia ? (Sinks into a chair. ) 

Mag. Yes, Juan Garcia ; and it seems 
His name has brought a fullness to your eyes, 
A color to your cheek, a heaving to your breast, 
Which show right strange in so divine a girl. 
I guessed your virgin visions were less prim 
Than cloistered sisters in a nunnery dream. 

Gomez. O speak, my child, my precious 
acolyte. 
Thou whom I taught the ancient holy rites, 
Who learned the sacred numbers and their 

counts, 
The herbs that carry with them life and death, 
The magic words that change the man to 

beast, 
The deepest secrets of the Nagual lore ! 
Hast thou allowed the ferment of the blood 
To darken with its fumes thy limpid soul ? 

Vasquez. O woe ! If this be so, what faith, 
What faith were left among our warlike youth, 
Who follow now unquestioning thy commands, — 
Because they hold thee free as Holy May 
From every touch and taint of fleshly thirst, 



Maria Candelaria. iy 

Should they discover that their seeming saint 
Longs for the luxury of the carnal clasp ? 

Maria. {Coming forward.') You, worthy 
uncle, and you, valiant chieftain, 
(For to my bitter aunt I do not speak), 
You wrong me deeply both in thought and 

word. 
I have no shameful fervors to conceal, 
No thought to hide, no act to cover o'er. 
As they believe me, so I am in sooth, 
One who is chosen by our ancient gods 
To speak their will, to order forth our braves, 
And drive the cursed Christians from our land. 

Yet am I still a mortal and a maid ; 
Oft when a child, Juan and I went forth 
To gather berries on the upland slope, 
Or carry water from the valley spring ; 
And thus our budding souls did melt in one. 
With ripening years I held him more aloof; 
For early in my life I felt a hand, 
Unseen of others, drawing me along, 
With whispers of strange voices in my ears, 
Foretelling of a fate in store for me, 
Of mightier moment than all else besides. 

I love Juan, and yet I know that he 
Has not yet breathed the higher air with me ; 



1 8 Maria Candelaria. 

Has not yet learned a maiden's richest love 
Reaches out ever for a loftier soul. 
Yet this, I know, is but a fault of sense, 
And he, like me, will sink all lower aims 
To that supreme which is my life of lives — 
To answer with my life to Freedom 1 s call. — 
So have no fear ; I am the gods' elect, 
Through love and hate I walk as they direct. 

[Exit Maria."] 
Vasquez. A matchless maid ! By all the 

gods I swear, 
That never more a doubt will I admit 
That they have chosen her to rule our cause. 
Gomez. And I too, Vasquez, see that in her 

soul 
Lies more than mortal, some miraculous power ; 
Yet none the less, it hurts me like a blow 
That any love her highest love divides. 

Magdalena. To hear you talk just makes me 

tired of men. 
When e'er a girl's the theme, how little wit 
The wisest of your sex do ever show. 

[They motion her to be silent, and, as she 
continues, they leave the room.~\ 
Let pretty lips the wildest fustian prate, 



Maria Candelaria. 1 9 

Down it is gulped as the decrees of fate ; — 
Oh ! you are going ; well then, get you gone, 
You'll find yourselves well fooled when all is 
done. 



20 Maria Candelaria. 



Scene III. The Spanish camp near Occhuc. Don 
Nicolas de Segovia, Father Simon de Lara. 
Later, Balthasar, Geronymo. 

Don Nicolas de Segovia. Your Reverence, I 
have it from a spy 
That Vasquez and his force have fallen back, 
And left the road to Cancuc freely ours. 
That town itself is walled, and trenched with- 
out, 
And there they mean to make the final stand ; 
And it is well, for from that pestilent spot — 
Return so thankless for your pious care — 
Have come the veriest hell-hounds of this war, 
Their leader Vasquez, who shall pay it dear, 
The devil's spawn, old Gomez, fit for fuel, 
And his blasphemous niece, who soils the name 
Of our most blessed Lady of the Candles. 
Father Simon. The devil works his will with 
these, 
And fills them with unheard-of evil thoughts. 
They have defiled the holy fanes of God — 
My own is changed into a dancing hall, 
Where wanton movement and lascivious song 
Are heard, instead of solemn prayer and chant; — 
The sacred cup which held the blood of Christ, 



Maria Candelaria. 21 

The salver bearing His divinest flesh, 
Are turned to every base, ignoble use, 
Or hid and buried in the common dirt ; 
The sacred vestments we anointed wear 
When we approach the holy throne of grace, 
Are pieced and cut and travestied to make 
A flaunting costume for an Indian wench. 

Don Nic. No mercy to such miscreants is 
due; 
Hating to work, incapable in sense 
To see and seek the nobler ends of life, 
Content to wallow in their heathen mire, 
And in it cast the pearls of price we bring, 
Their only place is that of hinds and serfs, 
Who 'neath the lash perforce obey commands, 
Which we, the higher and the stronger race, 
Must still enforce, if needs, with scourge and 

sword. 

Father Simon. Horrors on horrors ever fresh 
are heaped ; 
For not content with stoning to the death, 
The pious brethren, Marcos and Jorg6, 
And slaying Mariscal and Torres in the road, 
And Gomez and Malindres, godly priests, 
And humble followers of Saint Dominic ; 
Now from Simijovel comes the news 



22 Maria Candelaria. 

That Father Campos' dying blood has wet 
The very shrine and altar of the Lord ; 
At Tonala, the crown of martyrdom 
By Father de Andrada has been won; 
Both our blest rivals in the holy work, 
Followers of Francis, the seraphic saint. 

\_Eiiter Balthasar.~\ 

Balthasar. My General and your Rever- 
ence, here without 
The treacherous Indian stands who brought us 

news 
Of how Cancuc is guarded. Now he says 
A secret path he knows, will lead us straight 
To where the walls are weak, and where a gate 
Will softly open by a woman's hand, and where 
Our men-at-arms can pass ere sun is up, 
And seize each point of vantage in the place. 
Shall I the knave admit? 

Don Nicolas. Admit him straight. 

{Balthasar whistles and Geronymo enters. ) 

Don Nicolas ( to Geronymo') . Liar and 
traitor as I know you are, 
If in this guidance you have promised us, 
You swerve but the dividing of a hair, 
Your head shall fall ere you can ope your 

mouth 



Maria Candelaria. 23 

To shape the words to any further lie. 

At my right hand and at my sword's keen edge 

You will point out the path of which you 

spoke. 
But if a true and loyal servant you, 
Then gold is yours, and freedom, and reward, 

Geronymo (kneeling). I swear to you, O 
brave General, and to you, Reverend Father, 
by the most Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God, 
that I love the whites and the padres, and 
hate heretics and idolators and all enemies to 
the King and the bishops. Let my head an- 
swer for my fidelity. 

Don Nicolas. A double traitor may you be, 
A perjuring villain, who would lead my men 
By night and ignorance into lonely paths, 
To fall weak victims to an ambushed horde. 
A proof I order that your heart is ours. 

Gerony?no. Most ready am I, valiant Gen- 
eral, 
To offer any proof that you can ask. 

Don Nicolas. I know your people well, 
A crew of ignorant and drunken serfs, 
Led on by some few servants of the devil. 
Just now, the fiend's favorite is that Vasquez ; 



24 Maria Candelaria. 

He is the leader of the mob, and he 
Will surely meet with a peremptory death 
When we shall take him captive in Cancuc. 
We Christians are, however, merciful, 
And would save slaughter • his poor fools, 
Their leader lost, would yield themselves at 

once; 
And thus our swords would rest within their 

sheaths, 
A general pardon be proclaimed and peace. 
Now you can bring about this happy end. 

Geronymo. By what means, General, can 
this end be gained ? 

Don Nicolas. Easily enough ; as, we'll say, 
this eve, 
Slip into Cancuc, and tell Vasquez there, 
You have a mighty matter to impart 
To him alone ; — alone with him, 
Plunge deep this dagger in his traitrous heart. 

{Hands him a poniard. ) 
And then to prove the deed is done, 
Snatch from his neck the jade he wears, 
His famous amulet, and fetch it here. 

Geronymo. Ere the moon rises at the mid- 
night hour, 
The carved jade shall glimmer in your hand. 



Maria Candelaria. 25 

Don Nicolas. See that your actions to your 
words be true, 
Or soon you'll find 'twill be the worse for 
you. 

[Exeunt all but Geronymo.~\ 

Geronymo. Now must I finally decide my 
course : — 
Or with the damned Spaniard to abide, — 
Who will, for sure, reward my treachery well — 
Or with my native kinsmen take my chance. 
This last is that which I should rather choose 
Had I strong hope their cause would win suc- 
cess — 
But I have none — there's Magdalena too, 
The woman whom I love, and she loves not 
Her upstart niece, who overrules us all 
With a rod rougher than a Spanish scourge. 
Vasquez suspects me not, and easily he 
Will see me secretly, and thus give chance 
To save my kin and serve the Spaniard too, 
By letting his red blood with this steel blue. 



26 MaricT Candelaria. 



Scene IV. The cave-temple of the Nagualists in the 
■wall of the barranca of Cancuc. Around the 
sides are images of the native gods ,' before them, 
small altars, on which are lighted candles, jars 
of maize, fat dishes for burning incense, parch- 
ments inscribed in bright colors with the native 
hieroglyphic writing, the national flags or ban- 
ners, wooden drums, conch shells used as trumpets, 
and marimbas. 

Sebastian Gomez, in the full costume of a High 
Priest of the Nagualists : a blue ttmic with short 
sleeves, reaching to his feet, decorated down the 
front with a double row of hieroglyphic charac- 
ters in yellow ; a diadem of gold on his head, sur- 
mounted with a cluster of green quetzal feathers l 
i?i his hand a long crooked staff", like a bishops 
crozier. 

Maria, in the full costume of a High Priestess of the 
Nagualists : a xvhite tunic cut low in the neck, em- 
broidered in gold above the waist with hiero- 
glyphs / around her waist a broad red sash fall- 
ing to the feet, embroidered with figures in blue; 
a necklace of alier?iate gold and jade images en- 
circles her neck and rests on her bosom ' her hair 
is loose and flowing, retained by a circlet of gold 
surmounted by red and white feathers. 

The Acolytes are variously clothed in the four sym- 
bolic colors, black, red, green and yellow . 

Gomez. Ye gods who guided in the an- 
cient days 



Maria Candelaria. 27 

Our fathers from afar to these their homes ! 
I call for help in this distressful hour. 
On thee, Votan, I call, who named the tribes 
And gave their varied language unto men ; 
And thee, O mighty Ben, whose lofty pillars set 
Their metes and bounds to each ; and thee, 

O Cam, 
Who taught the sacred writing to the wise ; 
And you, ye holy souls, 
Who greet the rising and the setting sun, 
Ye spirits of the mountain and the plains, 
Of frost and sunshine, wind and rain ; 
And most and first of all, I call upon Patol, 
Moulder of man and builder of the world ; 
Nor yet forget I you, strange gods, who fought, 
And still do fight against the creed we hate, 
You, Judas, Satan, Antichrist ; 
Aid us with all your might ; 
Send death to those we hate, a blight upon 

their crops, 
A murrain on their herds, defeat unto their 
arms. 

Maria. O thou mother of our kind. 
Goddess of knowledge and of skill, 
Whom men call Wisdom's Womb and Rea- 
son's Queen, 



28 Maria Candelaria. 

To me a loving mother and a sweet ; 

Who chose me from among the many maids, 

And shone upon me in thy living form 

That blood-red dawn when forth I fared 

To gather garlands in the dewy glen ; 

And first, I thought thee mother of the Christ, 

The Virgin Mother whom the padres brought ; 

But soon thy looks and words proclaimed thee 

more, 
Much more and mightier than the Jewish maid; 
For she was but a girl, a goddess thou, 
Who told me I, e'en I, should wield 
As grand a scepter as the King of Spain. 
And so it is, for now, the strong-armed guards, 
The slingers from the upper hills, 
The fishers from the lower streams, 
All come and bow before me, write my sign 
Upon their banners, and by thousands strong, 
Go forth to offer battle in my name. 

At first thy wisdom taught me to pretend, 
To leave both priest and people still * to think 
The Holy Virgin of the whites had come 
And pointed out a place for both to pray ; 
But now I have thrown off such masquerade ; 
Myself do celebrate the holy mass, 
To prove that thou art strong as any god. 



Maria Candelaria. 29 

And I myself do drain the sacred cup, 
And break the crumbling body of the Lord, 
So all may see that naught can do me harm 
Dost thou support me with thy mighty hand. 
For reason, knowledge, wisdom, ever win, 
And thou art queen and mistress of them all. 

First dance of the Acolytes / after which they sing 

the Song to the Elemental Forces. 

Chorus of Boys ( To Fire). 

Spirit with the yellow hair, 

Shining rose of night, 
Father thou of all things here, 

In darkness and in light. 

Chorus of Girls {To Water). 

Spirit of the azure plain, 

With thy skirt of gems, 
Thou who sowest by thy rain 

The flowers, earth's diadems. 

Chorus of Boys {To the Winds). 

Birds unseen, from north and south, 

East and west ye come, 
Seasons bringing, flood and drouth, 

Heat or blasts that numb. 



30 Maria Candelaria. 

Chorus of Girls {To the Earth). 

Flower the womb of every flower, 

Bearing all that is, 
Thy children eating hour by hour, 

Killing with thy kiss. 

Boys and Girls together ( To the Hand). 

Fates that frame the luck of man, 

Five ye be in all, 
Guide our master in his plan, 

Let fortune him befall. 

Second dance of the Acolytes, after which they sing 
the Song to the Reciprocal Principles of Nature. 

Brides and grooms immortal, guardians of the 
portal 
Through which Nature winds her endless 
chains ; 
By whose mystic unions, and whose deep com- 
munions ; 
Death is foiled and Life forever reigns ; 

You whose bliss eternal, in the realms supernal, 
Mortal lovers may not hope to share, 

Yet a taste bestowing, in the fervid, glowing 
Love that loving lovers to each other bear ; 



Maria Candelaria. 31 

Hear this man and maiden, bending heavy laden 
Neath the signs of blood and burnings nigh \ 

Kneeling low before you, weeping they implore 
you: 
Heed their moans and harken to their cry. 

Third Dance of the Acolytes, after -which they ar- 
range themselves behind Gomez and Maria, 
ivho approach altars at opposite 
sides of the stage. 

Gomez. (Holding the serpent wand. Invoca- 
tion to the constructive male potencies.') 
To the sacred three and the three times three, 
The gods who have builded whatever there be ; 
To the fount of life neath the primal tree, 
And the fourfold streams which flow from it 

free; 
I burn the gum, and I pour the wine {burns 

copal and pours a libation), 
I scatter what's beaten nine times nine (scat- 
ters tobacco), 
I utter the words of power divine, 
I pray that their aid may ever be mine. 
Maria. (Holding an aspergillum. Invocation 
to the destructive female potencies.) 
To the mother of all, on whose fateful shrine, 



32 Maria Candelaria. 

The cradle and grave their symbols entwine ; 

To the eagle -wraith whose scent from afar 

Feeds on the fumes of the fields of war \ 

To the serpent-queen, whose poisonous breath 

Hissingly utters the summons to death \ 

To the spectre-maids, with flying locks, 

Who will rend the earth with its final shocks ; 

To the lethal queens of the unseen world, 

I scatter the drops on the scroll unfurled (as- 

perges the parchments'). 
On its mystic glyphs and its figures old, 
And I conjure success for our warriors bold. 

Solemn procession of the Acolytes, who then leave the 
stage. 

Gomez. Now that our ancient gods have 
been adjured 
To lend their favor to our bold emprise, 
We must ourselves leave nothing overlooked 
To fetter fortune wholly to our flag ; 
And as when one would clear a path of weeds, 
He cuts those first that tangle his own feet, 
I ask you straightly, niece, if in your heart 
Another thought than that of battling lies ? 
Maria. I wonder not to hear you thus in- 
quire, 
For well I know that Magdalena's words 



Maria Candelaria. 33 

Have left a rankling fear within your breast 

That I for love of Garcia might desert 

The holy cause on which we've staked our 

lives. 

Well too, I know, that Juan Garcia' s heart 
Burns more for me than for our sacred aims ; 
And this it is that makes me passing sad ; 
For I am not of those who wish a love 
Fed with the flesh of animal desire, 
But one, and one alone, which finds its food 
In sharing noble thoughts and planning deeds 
Which shall outshine the common aims of life. 

I sent for Juan Garcia here to-night, 
And he must choose to rise above himself 
And reach the upper levels of my soul, — 
Or else the end has come to both our loves. 
Hist ! Let us apart, for surely I believe, 
I hear his footfall on the woodland path. 

[Exeunt Gomez and Maria, .] 
Enter Juan Garcia. 

Juan. {Alone.') 'Tis she ! No! 'tis but the 
flutter of a bird. 
Ah ! Were it she, I'd know it from afar : — 
The quickened flushing of my blood, 
The keen, small darts transfixing all my frame, 
The sudden grasping of my throat, 



34 Maria Candelaria. 

The throbbing brain and quivering thews 
Which her approaching footfalls wake in me, 
Would tell me it is she, my life, my love ! 
For as the heavy odor of the flower 
Dulls in full flight the laboring bee, 
And as the forked serpent of the cloud 
Breaks through and burns the mighty forest 

bole, 
So dulls, so breaks, so burns my love for her 
All strength and thought and might within my 

breast. 

Her breath is fiery and her touch a flame, 
And e'en her little finger laid on mine 
Makes weak the warrior sinews of mine arm, 
Fainting with fierceness of intense desire. 
But in my nightly dreams I am her mate, 
And strong and potent clasp her in my arms. 
Then all her rounded body clings to mine, 
And she it is who gasps and faints and reels, 
Breathing at every pore the amorous dew, 
The sweet aroma of enraptured sense, 
Which maddens, and by maddening heals. 
Ah ! Then indeed, our twin souls melt to one ; 
I suck sweet savor from her ripening fruit, 
And fill with kisses all her roseate bowls, 
And each soft limb is interwreathed in mine. 



Maria Candelaria. 35 

Maria, (enters). Juan, I am here. 

Juan, (hastens toward her) . Maria ! 

Maria, (motioning him to stop) . Nay, Juan, 
come not near. 
Scarce can you think, my love, that on this spot, 
At such an hour, we meet for amorous play. 
The circlet crowns my brow, my shoulders bear 
The flowing garments of the Nagual queen ; 
And here besides us, mark the sacred shrines 
Bearing upon them mighty gods of men. 

The words I have to speak befit this scene, 
This scene, so far from sensuous dalliance set. 

I know you love me, Juan, and I you. 
My love for you — oh ! — who could give it 

words ? 
A love beginning with my life itself ! 
Yet ever felt I there was something else, 
Aye ! holier, deeper than my love to you, 
Not driving it away, but urging me beyond. 

As in that stream which flows toward Balancan 
From out our eastern borders, all that drops, 
Be it a tree or leaf, or dead man's corpse, 
Is turned to stone and sinks as flinty rock ; 
So in my heart, the sweeter, milder thoughts 
Have been transformed to stony, stern resolves, 
Until the flag oi freedom crowns our land. 



36 Maria Candelaria. 

This was it, Juan, made me seem so cold, 
This is it, Juan, makes me now pronounce 
The words which wither all my hopes of love, 
Unless they wake in you responsive chords, 
Will lead us hand in hand to glorious life. 
I know your noble and impetuous heart 
Throbs for the freedom of the Indian race. 
On this revolt you know I've staked my life 
And lives of thousands of our tribe and tongue. 
When we have won, Juan, then you and I, 
A king and queen, will found a famous house, 
Ruling with justice all our ancient land. 

Promise me here, and on your soul of souls, 
Forgetting all desire, to aid in this, 
And push straight onward to this noble goal ; 
Or, if you cannot, if the path is steep, 
Too steep for you to mount — then leave me 

here ; 
For he who loves me, must love better still 
The cause for which I sacrifice his love. 

Juan. Thy words, Maria, pierce me through 
and through ; 
But slaying only those unworthy parts 
Which hitherto have made me unfit thee. 
A light illumes my soul, I see thee now 
A queen of men, an angel of the gods, 



Maria Candelaria. 37 

And yet withal, a woman sweet and true, 
Uplifting and ennobling whom she loves, 
Cleansing his soul to fit it for her own. 
Doubt me no longer ; I am all that thou 
Didst ever fondly wish that I should be. 

As in that mountain-cleft near Comitan, 
The crystal water twixt the narrow walls 
Draws all above it with such potent force, 
That stalwart slingers strive in vain to hurl 
Their polished stones athwart its easy breadth, 
For straight they plunge beneath its unplumbed 

waves : 
So does thy lofty and sublime appeal 
Constrain my every thought to flow to thee, 
And in thy service mine own self to drown. 

Tell me thou lovest ; give me once again 
This soothing potion for my bitter pain. 

Maria. I cannot measure the abounding joy 
Which floods my soul to find thee as thou art. 
Be certain, Juan, that no maiden's love 
In any record reaches up to mine ; 
Be sure of this ; though not for many days 
May I reveal it by a word or look. 

As in the tender spring the quetzal bird 
Fills with his forceful song the shady glade, 
And then is heard no more throughout the year 



38 Maria Candelaria. 

Till springtime brings again the bud and blade; 
So trust with fullest faith, my dearest dear, 
That though awhile I speak no word of love, 
The time will come when I shall draw anear 
And sing my sweetest songs thy heart to move. 



ACT II. 

Scene I. House of Magdalena. Magdalena, later 
Geronymo^ Juan Garcia. 

Magdalena (a/one). That I should live to 
see myself spit upon by my own niece ! For it 
might as well have been that, when she stopped 
me in the midst of my prophecy, and bade me 
hold my tongue ! As if I could not prophesy 
better than she ! Minx ! But my turn will 
come. I can make her and the whole of them, 
not only sweat but fry, if I choose ; and that 
right easily with Geronymo's aid. And with 
the word, here he comes. 

[Enter Geronymo."] 

Geronymo. Hist ! Are we alone ? 

Mag. Indeed we are. Every soul has gone to 
hear Maria's gabble at the new church. When 
I wanted to say a word she up and told me to 
shut my mouth. What think you of that for 
conduct ? 

Geronymo. Scandalous. But it gives us a 
chance, ducky, to talk over our plans. In 
brief, Don Nicolas and Father Simon promise 
39 



40 Maria Candelaria. 

me and you pardon and money, if I guide them 
at night to the weak corner of the wall. You 
are to be there, and when I give the wood-owl 
screech, you are to slip the bolt and open the 
gate. 

Mag. And will they spare the people ? 

Ger. No one will be hurt who does not op- 
pose them. All, said Father Simon, will be 
pardoned ; except, indeed, Vasquez, who is 
charged with murdering babies and women at 
Chilun. 

Mag. And my niece, and uncle Gomez ? 

Ger. {hesitates'). Oh ! About them, Father 
Simon was not sure. The soldiers will not 
hurt them, but, you see, the Church — well, they 
stand accused of witchcraft and idolatry and 
sacrilege — and with them it may go a little hard. 

Mag. Well, faith, why should I care ? They 
must look out for themselves. But they will 
kill Vasquez ? 

Geron. {approaching her.*) Unless I kill him 
first ! Don Nicolas requires this of me as 
proof of loyalty. 'Tis but to shorten his life 
a day or two, for die he must, and that soon. 
Nor do I shun the task ; for he has ever treated 
me with insolence. 



Maria Candelaria. 41 

Mag. And me with disdain. I'll waste no 
tears on him. 

Geron. But to insure success we need another 
hand. A sentry guards that gate, and we 
must have a sturdy fellow to grasp his throat 
behind, and choke his calls. I have the man 
in mind — partly a pale face, weak, therefore, 
to the native cause. What is more, lovesmit- 
ten with Maria, and scorned by her. You 
know him now ? 

Mag. Yes, Juan Garcia, a dreamy youth who 
never seemed to have the cause at heart. 

Geron. I have asked him to come here that we 
might show him where his interest lies. And 
here he is. 

\Enter Juan Garcia."] 

Juan. My friends, I hasten here at your re- 
quest, though full of work to do. What is it 
you wish? 

Mag. Lord, Juan, how you talk ! You'll 
spoil your comely hands, if you do work. And 
you with white blood in your veins, to talk of 
working ! Why, man, more money's to be 
made by working not at all. I'll tell you how. 

Geron. Hush ! Magdalena, not so fast. 
4 



42 Maria Candelaria, 

You know, good Juan, that our troops were 
beaten back at Huistlan, and now have left 
Occhuc without a blow. Our general Vasquez 
is or weak or traitrous. Moreover, 'tis he the 
Spaniards chiefly blame. Were he — put away 
{draws his hand across his throat) — winning 
or losing, we'd be the better off. What think 
you? 

Juan {cautiously*). What you say sounds 
fairly — but, after that, what next ? Your pro- 
ject surely ends not there. And who can do 
the deed? 

Geron {encouraged). I see, Juan, you're 
quarter white, and always all a Christian. You, 
like me, laugh at the black cave-gods and their 
impotent spells. You are no Indian dolt, nor 
yet am I. You and I in three days can be free 
and rich and pardoned, if you will. 

Juan. And how ? 

Geron. To-morrow night you go with Mag- 
dalena to the northwest gate, which opens 
on the ancient, disused road. Only one 
sentinel keeps watch there. Engage him in 
negligent talk, and at a propitious moment 
seize him by the throat with those strong hands 



Maria Candelaria. 43 

of yours. When you hear a wood-owl' s screech, 
Magdalena will unbar the gate, and — and — 
Juan. Well, what then ? 
Geron. Why, then, I and some Spanish 
soldiers will slip in. 

Juan. And think you Vasquez sleeps all 
night ? 

Geron. Ere that hour comes, he'll sleep to 
wake no more. Look you here {shows the 
dagger), with this royal lancet I'll let his blood 
this eve. 

Juan {rising and pacing in thought) {aside). 
I must estop this devilish plot. My stronger 
arm can wrest the dagger from him now and 
drive it to his heart. But, no ; a public 
vengeance should on him alight, where all may 
know the cause. {To Ge?'on.) This eve you 
say? You've planned it well. But let me 
think it over, and on the plaza when the sun 
goes down, we'll settle it between us. 

[Exit Juan.] 

Geron. {To Magdalena). By the Holy 
Grandmother of God, Magdalena, he falls as 
easily into our hands as a ripe zapote when 



44 Maria Candelaria. 

one shakes the tree. That shows what faithless 
currents run in white men's veins. 

Mag. Are you sure of him? To me he 
seemed not over warm. 

Geron. Is there any warmth in a white 
man's blood when he is after gold? The only 
way to warm them is to melt it and pour it 
down their accursed throats, as our ancestors 
did. But Juan is ours. 



Maria Candelaria. 45 



Scene II. The Plaza of Cancuc. Late afternoon. 
Jacinto, Jose ; later Sebastian Gomez, in the ordi- 
nary costume of a Nagual Priest ; a long -white 
tunic, perfectly plain, faste?ied at the waist', on 
his head a narrow circlet of gold. 

Maria, in the symbolic garb of the " serpent- 
w oman', " a white tunic, edged and slashed with 
black', a pointed red piece set in at the neck ,' her 
hair flaited, the plaits crossing her forehead like 
the coils of a serpent, upon them a croivn of gold, 
bearing short red feathers ; around her neck a 
live serpent / on her breast, hung low, a large 
plaque of gold inscribed ^vith mystic characters ," 
her sash of white, edged and slashed with black ' 
in her hand the " serpent wand." 

Jacinto. They're coming this way, Jose\ 
Stand we here aside, and we can see the Virgin 
Queen and all her grand array. 

Jose. They say she chants a mass as well as 
Father Simon, and beats him quite in sermons 
in our Tzental tongue. 

Jacinto. Why, so I've heard. Perhaps she'll 
give one here. 

[Enter the procession, headed by Gomez, 
Vasquez and Maria, followed by acolytes, 
slingers, warriors, populace and children.~\ 



4.6 Maria Candelaria. 

Song by the Acolytes. 
The eagle is soaring, 
Libations we're pouring, 
Our lances we're lowering, 
In battle array. 

Why stand ye a-wringing 
Your hands, when our singing 
Should spur you to flinging 
Yourselves in the fray ? 

Why sit ye a-sighing, 
Or listlessly lying, 
When heroes are dying ? 
Up ! up ! and away. 

Gomez (to Maria). Pause we here awhile, 
For I note wondering faces in the crowd 
Not lately to be seen in our assembly, 
And we must catch them while they are in 

reach. 

My fellow townsmen, and you distant tribes- 
men, 
Our hearts are moved by one single purpose — 
To claim our ancient rights, and make them 

valid 
'Gainst those accursed tyrants and oppressors, 



Maria Candelaria. 47 

Who, some two centuries since, despoiled our 

parents. 
They spurned our chieftains and with stony- 
hearts, 
Pierced them with swords while kneeling in 

respect. 
Our youths they sold as slaves to distant islands; 
Our maids they soiled as common concubines, 
And, if a father dared to make complaint — 
< 'Dog of an Indian ! Get you from our sight, ' ' 
Was the reply, with taunt and bitter blows. 
They seized our goods and called it levying tax, 
And often robbed us of our growing crops ; 
Starving our babes that they might fatten swine. 
Our bodies thus abased, they boast the more 
That they have brought the Church of Christ 

to us, 
And saved our souls through priestly minis- 

trants. 
Believe them not, for well you know yourselves, 
What fine examples these same padres set ; — 
Drunkards and gamblers, lecherous and lazy; 
Debauching matrons and despoiling homes, 
Greedy for gold, and oft imposing penance 
To make the frightened sinner buy it off ! 
Suggesting sinful thoughts to innocent minds 



48 Maria Candelaria. 

Under pretence of guarding purity ; 
Ruling like despots by the threat of hell, 
And endless torment to the timid souls. 

Away, I say, away with cowardly fears ! 
Avenge the wrongs that ye have borne so long ! 
Slay every white -faced creature of them all ! 
Let neither youth nor age nor sex escape. 
Death and destruction to their entire tribe ! 
Sweep their accursed spawn from off the earth, 
And thus regain your ancient joyous life, 
The noble grandeur of our earlier state, 
When mighty Ococingo ruled the mount, 
And Comocalco guarded by the shore, 
And midway rose Nachan in sculptured pomp ; 
While all the way from there to Tenosek, 
The land was whitened with a hundred towns, 
Whose stones now litter the tenebrious woods. 
Be ye but men, those days will dawn again, 
And we be masters on our natal soil. 

Villagers. Lead us afield; we'll massacre 
them all ! 

Vasquez. Stand firmly by your banners and 
be men. 
Success and victory await our arms ; 
For have we not here present to our sight 
The gods' own messenger unparagoned, 



Maria Candelaria. 49 

Their secret council's chosen oracle, 
The virgin priestess of the sacred cave ; 
Harken the prophecy that she will speak. 

Maria. {Speaks in a trance*). 
The cycle is ending, the lord of it leaves 
His house in the east for the love of the land 
Which groans in the grasp of the god of the 

whites, 
And bleeds from the teeth of their merciless 

band. 
A blight is advancing, the leaves shrivel up, 
A cloud is arising, a storm draweth near ; 
Up, men of our nation, lay hold of your blades. 
Reach out for your weapons, and cast away fear. 
For the cycle has ended that witnessed our woes, 
And the flesh of the whites shall make food for 

the crows. 

Villagers shout, and the armed tribesmen sing the 
War Song. 

There's a field that invites us, a field full of 
flowers, 
Red are its roses, ensanguined their hues, 
Its seedlings are watered with rubescent 
showers, 
Damp is its grass with incarnadine dews. 
5 



50 Maria Candelaria. 

Its flowers are the war-shield, the axe and the 
arrow, 
Blood is its rain-drops, its dew drips from 
death. 
Fragrant its flowers, but they sprout by the 
narrow 
Grave-pits whose dust-clouds the tillers en- 
wreath. 

But the fruits of its flowers are the pride of the 
living, 
Prowess and honor and glory and fame, 
And who loses life to his nation is giving 

All that in life is deserving of aim. 
We long for the battle, we thirst for the 
slaughter, 
We'll join the red revel with hearts full of 
glee, 
We'll smile at our woundings, greet death with 
loud laughter, 
And shout out our song mid the mad jubilee. 

Jose. By the saints, Jacinto, were I a 
young buck, I would sharpen my machete and 
follow her to the death. 

Jacinto. Then thank the saints that you are 
an old fool and not a young buck. Lucky if 



Maria Candelaria. 51 

you escape with a whole skin as it is, for to-day 
commandant Vasquez ordered the wells to be 
sealed, and if he does not expect the Span- 
ish soldiers in Cancuc, why did he that ? We 
wise ones had better go back to our mules and 
our maize fields, and leave fighting and fortune- 
telling to those who are tired of living. 

\Exeunt.~\ 



52 Maria Candelaria. 



Scene II. Plaza of Cancuc. Evening. Magda- 
lena, Geronymo, the Alcalde, villagers ,* later 
Vasquez^ Anto?iio, Garcia. 

Geronymo (to Magdalena'). I fear that vil- 
lain Vasquez has some scent 
Of what a dish of meat I'm cooking for him. 
Think you it is his dev'lish nagiial 
That whispers warnings to his attent ear ? 
Magdalena. Nay, more likely 'tis that traitor 
Garcia, 
Who to the general has betrayed our plans. 
I did not like his dubious parleyings, 
And think we must seek other aid than he. 
Ger. Why then we'll try the other plan I 
broached, 
And sow sedition 'mongst the common herd — 
We'll call a few together and begin. 

Friends, friends, come hither, I have learned 

some news. 
Villagers. News ! News ! Quick ! Let us hear 

the news. 
Ger. I met a trader in the valley yonder, 
One of the Nahuas — they are friends of ours — 
And for that reason weeping sad he was, 
That we had entered on this hopeless war. 



Maria Candclaria. 53 

Villagers. Hopeless ! {Angrily. ) 

Ger. Oh ! that's his word, not mine, 
And I, like you, rebuked him for the term ; 
But he kept on, and said with tearful face, 
' ' You Tzentals have no chance ; a thousand 

guns 
Will mow you down as corn with a machete. 
The Chols and Quelens have renounced revolt. 
Your only hope is to throw down your arms 
And sue for peace and pardon right away. ' ' 

Vills. Did he say that ? 

Ger. Indeed he did, and more. 
As that, ' ' if Vasquez leads you still astray, 
Defeated as he was at Huistlan, 
And that conceited babbler of a girl 
Fills your dull minds with idle gibberish, 
The Church and King will show you little 

grace 
When in their hands you fall, as soon you 

will." 

Vills. By all the saints, he spoke what might 
be true. 

Ger. The time, he said, is short ; for yes- 
ter night 
The Spaniards camped within a league of here. 



54 Maria Candelaria. 

Two hundred horse, a thousand musketeers, 
With mighty cannons belching red hot balls. 
' ' What chance, ' ' he said again, ' ' is left for 

you?" 

Magdalena. He spoke the truth in every 
word he said ; 
And be you not inveigled by my niece, 
A wayward chit from earliest girlhood up. 
Be not the dupes of her pretentious shams, 
Her tricks and lies, and cunning juggleries. 
She'd have you think she's half a god herself. 
A god ! It makes me laugh. Why she's a jade 
I've had to switch for stealing out o' nights 
And sporting with the boys among the grass. 
If you have sense, and want your skins to 

keep, 
You will give heed to what Geronymo says. 

[Enter on one side Vasquez and Antonio. ~\ 

The Alcalde {aside to Magdalena). 'Twere 
wiser, woman, to recall those words ; 
I see the Virgin's followers around us. 

Magdalen a {aside to the Alcalde*). The vi- 
pers of our grassy glens, Alcalde, 
Attack whatever creatures them approach, 
Except the cat, from which they run away : 



Maria Candelaria. 55 

I am the cat ; the Viper's vassals here, 

Will not attempt to scratch me with their fangs. 

Vills. Oh let us go at once, and urge on Vas- 
quez, 
To ope the gates and send a flag of truce. 

Ger. There is no help in Vasquez, for his 
head 
Must pay the penalty of this revolt. 

Vasquez. Who speaks so freely of my head ? 
Oh you, 
Geronymo ! You here, and speeching to a 

crowd ! 
A thrilling speech for war, no doubt, my 

friends. 

Vills. Good General Vasquez, send a flag of 
truce, 
And ask our pardon of the Spanish king ; 
We have no chance of winning in this fight, 
Geronymo has told us the sad truth. 

Vasquez (to Geronymo) . Traitor and cow- 
ard, who lurking in this town, 
Would ope its portals to the Spanish foe ! 
As the black scorpion's touch to carrion turns 
The flesh of every creature save a dog, 
So the foul venom of thy traitorous tongue 



56 Maria Candelaria. 

Infects the mind of all except the deaf. 
And this malignant beldame on your right 
Has said the last her shrewish tongue will shape 
To thwart the purpose of this righteous war. 
Seize her, Anton, and lead her to the gaol. 

[Antonio seizes Magdalena and drags her 
out screaming, .] 
And you, Geronymo, down upon your knees, 
Or through your body drives this hungry blade. 

Geronymo. {Kneeling and holding up his 
hands. ) 
Put up your sword, O valiant General Vasquez, 
Bring out your cord and lash my wrists in 

knots. 
I meant no harm by anything I said. 

[ Vasquez puts up his sword and approaches 
to tie Geronymo 1 s hands. Geronymo 
jumps upon him and plunges the dagger 
to his heart. ~\ 
Take that, you fool, you driv'ling idiot, 
To think that I'm so easily caught as that. 

[Escapes into the darkness.~\ 
Fills. Murder ! Murder ! Murder ! 

[Enter Juan. ~\ 



Maria Candelaria. 57 

Juan. What means the shouting of this 

dreadful word ? 
Is any body murdered ? 

Vills. Geronymo's slain our noble general 

Vasquez. 
Our cause is doubly lost, for now, 
What leader have we to collect our force, 
And bid defiance to the conquering whites ? 
Juan. Let not despair possess your hearts, 

oh friends ! 
We've lost great Vasquez, yet we have with us 
As many warriors as we had before, 
As true a love for all that we defend, 
As sure a faith that in the end we'll win. 
And let not anything Geronymo said 
Disturb that faith, or make you weak at heart; 
For I have proof from out his very mouth, 
That he's a traitor, bought by Spanish gold 
To sell our village to the hated foe, 
And all that he has said are perjured lies. 
Disown him, then, and /will lead you forth, 
To certain victory o'er the Spanish host. 

Vills. Hurrah! Hurrah! We'll follow Juan 

Garcia ; 
Let Juan Garcia be our general now. 

[Exeunt all but the Alcalde.'] 



58 Maria Candelaria. 

The Alcalde. This folk are like the spring 
Ox Avil Hu, 
Which flows three years and then for three is 

dry; 
Only with them the years are turned to days, 
And twice a week at least they change their 

minds. 
It tasks, in fact, as able man as I, 
The path of profit clearly to descry. 



Maria Candelaria. 59 



Scene IV. The Native Church at Cancuc. A 
screen of Indian matting, -woven in bright colors 
and strange figures, conceals the back of the stage. 
In front of it is the altar, bearing upon it the 
sacred vessels of the Roman Church, flowers, 
candles and also small idols of the native gods. 
Around the walls, rude pictures and images of 
the Virgin and saints, mingled with others of 
fantastic deities and votive offerings. 

Sebastian, in the ordinary costume of the Nagual 
priesthood, as in Act II., Scene II. 

Maria, in a rich costume of eccentric character, 
made up in part from the sacred vestments of the 
Catholic priesthood. 

Later, Antonio, Juan Garcia, warriors, villagers, 
acolytes. 

Gomez (alone). At length the clouds are 
parting overhead, 
The bright sun shines, the signs are all benign. 
Vasquez is dead, whose weakness I perceived 
When he would stay the slaughter at Chilun ; 
And Magdalena too, a troublous wench. 
We've captured Juan Garcia and he 
Will ably carry out our plans for war. 
He foiled the subtle plot Geronymo laid, 
And gave new courage to the weakening 

hearts. 



6o Maria Candelaria. 

They ask that he shall lead us to the fray — 
And fitter man than he 'twere hard to find. 

[Enter Juan Garcia and Antonio, escorted 
by a group of warriors and followed by 
the populace. ~\ 
Antonio. Reverend master of our ancient 
cult, 
And guardian of our race in this revolt, 
Since Nicolas Vasquez lives to lead no more, 
We ask that in his place you consecrate 
Our fellow tribesman, Juan Garcia, here. 
His heart knows nothing but the love of ours, 
And hate of all that our oppressors love. 
He's skilled in arms and potent in his speech 
To fire dull souls and drive dark doubt away. 
Warriors. Let Juan Garcia be our chief 

elect. 
Fills. Yes, Juan Garcia is our only choice. 
Gomez. My friends, your wishes fill me 
with content. 
Long have I known that worthy Juan Garcia 
Is bold and able, strong in speech, and fit 
To foil the foe and win us back our freedom. 

But in such weighty matters, tis not I, 
Nor yet Maria, makes the final choice ; 



Maria Candelaria. 61 

But tis ~the gods themselves, who speak, in- 
deed, 
Through herlnspired voice ; for thus it was 
In ancient days, before the whites arrived, 
That woman ever stood the nearest God, 
And ruled the holiest of our mysteries ; 
So is it now, and I must see Maria, 
And learn what sacred whispers she is hearing. 

[Goes behind the curtain and reappears, 
leading Maria in a trance. ~\ 

Gomez. Even as I entered, friends and fel- 
low townsmen, 
I found her slowly waking from a trance, 
Filled with the spirit of our ancient gods, 
And with the knowledge of what is to be ; 
You need not ask her what you wish to know ; 
She wants no mortal speech to be acquaint 
With all that passes in your heart of hearts, — 
List ! and be silent, for the god will speak. 

Maria {in a trance). A traitor's hand you 
see ? A bloody knife ? 
Then ponder this from me — through Death 

comes Life. 
Of battles lost you hear ? Your men in flight ? 
Be not perturbed by fear ; the gods do right. 



62 Maria Candelaria. 

Why roars the raging rain, the winter's flood, 
But that the spring again shall make all good ? 
[Waking from the trance.'] 

Ah, you are here, my friends, and I know 
well 
That which your hearts are leaping forth to tell. 
For while I watched the Tortoise yesternight, 
The future shone before me clear in sight. 
I saw our warriors burn the Spanish towns, 
Strangle the bishops, rend their priestly gowns, 
Their men and women whelmed beneath their 

towers, 
From sea to sea the land was wholly ours. 
A banner saw I spread our troops before, 
And on it Juan Garcia' s name they bore ! 

Warriors. Long live Juan, Juan Garcia here. 

Vills. Hurrah, hurrah, for Juan Garcia here. 

Gomez. I told you that she knows the hid- 
den speech, 
Fraught with the future of our tribe and race. 
And now in solemn form she will anoint 
The daring captain chosen by the gods 
To lead you forth to certain victory. 
Juan, advance. 

[Juan approaches Gomez."] 



Maria Candelana. 63 

Are you prepared at this supreme hour, 
To cast aside all other thought or aim 
Than that of freeing our oppressed race 
From their long slavery to the tyrant whites ? 
Juan. With all my heart and soul I am. 
Gomez. And in this dread and desperate in- 
tent, 
Will you dismiss all weaknesses of heart 
That lean toward mercy and enfeebling ruth ? 
Juan. Whatever she commands, the gods' 
beloved, 
Blindly obedient, will I carry out. 

Gomez. Then kneel, Juan, that on thy chosen 
front 
The blessed oil shall christen thee her knight. 
\_Jua71 kneels. Maria approaches, and 
with her finger dipped in the oil makes 
the sign of the cross on his forehead. ] 
Maria. ( Cha?its. ) 
Black god of night and desolating war, 
Whose breath is flame, whose eyes as torches 

are — 
Among thy captains I this warrior name, 

Fighter for freedom and the Indians' rights ; 
Grant him, O leal, the illustrious fame 
Of driving from our land the hated whites. 



64 Maria Candelaria. 

Warriors and Populace. ( Chorus. ) 
Grant him, O leal, the illustrious fame, 
. Of driving from our land the hated whites. 
[ Gomez hands Maria a naked sword. Juan 
rises. Maria approaching Juan pre- 
sents him the sword, .] 

Ma ria. ( Sings . ) 
Take this falchion, let its gleaming 

Dazzle other eyes than mine ; 
When the war-bird shrill is screaming, 

Let the foremost place be thine. 
When the Spaniards surge in masses, 

On the Indians' rank and file, 
As the storm in mountain passes 

Hurls the branches pile on pile; 
Let this dripping blade be busy 

Mowing down the foemen pale, 
Till affrighted, awe-struck, dizzy, 

None is left to tell the tale. 
Then returning, free, victorious, 

Bring it back to me again ; 
I shall grant a great and glorious 

Guerdon for thy toil and pain. 

(Speaks. ) Now shall we sanctify this sacred 
pledge 



Maria Candelaria. 65 

With reverent rite and solemn sacrament, 
In our new ritual by the gods revealed. 

[She advafices before the altar, raising the 
crucifix and the serpent symbol together 
in both hands in the posture of the priest 
with the host. Acolytes wave the incen- 
sory, ring the bell and strew flowers. 
Music by the marimbas. ~\ 

The Acolytes Sing. 
Strophe. 
Through twice a century's wearisome years 
We wept and sighed in silence and tears, 
Crushed to earth by impotent fears. 

Antistrophe. 
But now as the sun dispels the night, 
As the darkness flees from the morning light, 
Our fears are dispelled and we dare to fight. 

Strophe. 
With flames eterne and menace of hell, 
With fastings and penance, and sermon and cell, 
Our wretched souls did the priests compel. 

Antistrophe. 
Hail to our gods who have come again, 
They will drive the Christians back to Spain, 
Ending our long and bitter pain. 
6 



66 Maria Candelaria. 

Chorus. 
So hand in hand, 
A joyous band, 
We sing of the liberty of our land. 
Out of the snare, 
As free as the air, 
For king and for priest we no more care. 
Maria {advances to the fronf). As I uplift 
the sacred crucifix 
And mate it with the serpent in my hands, 
It is to teach you that both faiths proceed 
From One alone who is the only God. 
As He is one above, so on the earth, 
One faith alone can possibly be true ; 
And this can be that only which admits 
No preference of sex, or race or blood, 
But stands all equal in their rights and rules, 
Before the throne of Him who is eterne. 
To teach this, I, an Indian and a maid, 
Have been ordained these rites to solemnize. 

Song by the Acolytes. 
Strophe. 
Soon priests shall pass away, 

Churches decay ; 
Hell shall no more affright 
Children of light. 



Maria Candelaria. 6? 

Wise masters then shall teach, 
Wise women then shall preach, 
Love for the right. 

Antistrofike. 
On God alone shall call, 

Worshippers all ; 
Creeds that are taught to-day, 

Passing away ; 
One faith alone will then 

Find a response in men — 

Labor and pray. 

Chorus. 
All that inspires the true and good, 

The love that lives for every man, 
That welds the bonds of brotherhood, 

Or friendship's pleasing flames will fan — 
Spirits, grant that such may be 

Our warrants for eternity. 

Maria. 
As the thirsty plain pants for the rain, 
So pray we panting to God on high, 
That He gives us a sign of His love divine 
And grant our chieftain victory. 
[Recessional, headed by Maria, Garcia, 
Gomez and Antonio, then acolytes and 
congregation. ~\ 



ACT III. 

Scene I. The Spanish Camp. Father Simon, Don 
Nicolas de Segovia j later Balthasar, Geronymo. 

Father Simon. Most strange it is what power 
the Devil hath, 
To lead astray these wretched Indian souls. 
They claim that by this wicked mutiny 
They seek escape from cruel and bitter rule. 
They dug a pit, and in it they have fallen. 
The crudest of our laws were mild as milk 
Compared to what this hell-hag makes them 

suffer. 
She ordered Lopez flayed alive for nought 
Than for purloining some few trumpery rags 
Which she had claimed as part of her own 

share. 
She had three natives roasted o'er slow fires, 
Merely for rumored sympathy with Spain. 
Nor has she pitied her own flesh and blood, 
But sent to sudden death her worthy aunt 
For chiding faithfully her mutinous lies. 

Don Nicolas. Reverend father, through your 
Christian grace, 
Your eyes are blinded to the actual state 
68 



Maria Candelaria. 6g 

Of the degraded natives of this land ; 
And were it not that oft such mildness wins 
A general welcome in your ghostly caste, 
Such a revolt as this would not have been. 

Though with a soul, the Indian is a brute, 
Responding to no chord of Christian love, 
Despising what is good, insensible to grace, 
Not to be governed by a saintly sweetness, 
But only by the pangs of fear and pain, 
By scourge and sword and prison bars. 
Would that the reverend clergy saw this clear, 
And led their flocks by stringent discipline. 

Father Simon. I now recall that almost what 
you say, 
Was also writ by Father Cogolludo, 
A learned brother of our blessed order. 
But I have ever thought the blood of Christ 
Was shed, and not in vain, for every race, 
And can turn any man to faith and love, 
Virtue and charity, be he ne'er so vile. 

Don Nicolas. 'Tis not for me to doubt that 
holy Church 
Has boundless wisdom for all worthy aims. 
But as a ruler of these Indian dogs, 
I'd rather trust a sabre than a mass. 

[Enter Balthasar.~\ 



jo Maria Candelaria. 

Bal. Again has come to camp, most worthy 
general, 
The Indian spy, and brings us from Cancuc 
Tidings of mutiny 'mongst the native troops. 
Don Nic. (To Balthasar). Let him come 

in. 
(BaL retires. Don Nic. to Father Simon. ) 
And such as he, 
Nor worse nor better, every Indian is ; 
Without affection even for his own, 
Disloyal, plotting, given up to vice. 

[Enter Balthasar with Geronymo.~\ 

Don Nic. ( To Ger. ) . How now, you treach- 
erous hound, why brought you not, 
The charm I asked from villain Vasquez' neck ? 
Play you a double game, and spy you here 
To tell it to your virgin of Cancuc ? 
Were I not loath your blood besmirched my 
floor, 

[Draws his sword. ] 

I'd make this broken promise be your last. 

Geronymo (falls on his knees). I pray you 
spare me, worthy general ; 
All have I carried out that man could do. 
Vasquez I've killed, and mutiny aroused 



Maria Candelaria. yi 

Among the timid people of the town. 

They wandered leaderless, and now at length 

Have taken up a fop, a beardless boy, 

Their virgin's paramour and bed-companion, 

Whom she's appointed to command the troops. 

Fire but a musket, and he'll run away, 

And his brave soldiers follow in hot haste. 

Don Nic. A worse report than this you 
might have made. 
And how about the secret path to-night ? 

Geron. By all the saints, the plan was fully 
laid, 
When she was murdered, who should ope the 

gate. 

Don Nic. A lie, of course ; but you deceive 
me not, 
Nor care I whether you speak false or true. 
It is more seemly to my noble blood, 
In open day to smoke these rebels out 
Their holes and hiding places in Cancuc. 
We'll take the walls by storm, and woe to him 
Who's found in arms against the King of Spain. 

\_Exeunt.~\ 



72 Maria Candelaria. 



Scene II. Plaza of Cancuc. Jacinto, Jose, the Al- 
calde ' later, Juan Garcia, Antonio, Warriors, 
Villagers. 

Jacinto. Worthy Alcalde, is it true the Span- 
iards 
Have seized two virgins sent by our Maria 
To preach the faith, and hanged them both as 

witches ? 

Alcalde. Pooh! Pooh! I know not this. Such 
foolish tales — 
And they are legion — interest me not. 
{Aside. ) This were bad fortune for our pretty 

maids ; 
No tree was ever graced with finer fruit! 

Jose. They tell me also that Don Nicolas, 
Has sent a cryer to the upper towns, 
Proclaiming pardon to all swearing fealty, 
And death to all in arms against the king. 

Alcalde {uneasily'). No such cryer has 
appeared in Cancuc ; 
His earliest duty was to come to me, 
At once, to ask permission for his cry. 
{Aside. ) From such a one I could find out for 

sure 



Maria Candelaria. 73 

Which side is likelier in this race to win ; 
And that's the side I wish to light upon. 

\_E?iter Garcia, Antonio, warriors, popu- 
lace.] 
Garcia {to Antonio). Find you the people 

ready for the fray ? 
Antonio. Not with the firmness that I should 
have liked. 
They are discouraged by the rumors spread, 
That, reinforced by many men at arms, 
Don Nicolas aims to take us by assault, 
And burn the village as he did San Martin. 
Garcia. Such is, in fact, the plan he con- 
templates, 
As I from trusty sources have it learned ; 
And better 'twere at once to put a stop 
To swollen rumors by a dose of truth. 
( To the Alcalde. ) Senor Alcalde, will you sum- 
mon hither 
Whoever in the town is fully minded 
To stand in battle 'gainst our tyrant foes. 
The hour has come when every villager 
Must risk his life to save our noble cause. 

Alcalde. Most worthy General Garcia, I obey, 
And straight shall order they assemble here. 
7 



74 Maria Candelaria. 

(Aside.) I see no way how I can 'scape the 

task. 

Juan(aside) . Now must I try my last appeal 
to these 
Half-hearted followers of our glorious lead. 
(To Antonio.) Come hither, Anton, when I 

give this sign ; 
Shout loudly thou and all thy warriors here ; 
For such example will encourage those 
Who otherwise would fear to join our ranks. 

\_The populace assembles. .] 

Garcia (to the populace). Words that are 
welcome would I speak, O friends, 
Welcome to all who've labored for the ends 
We've ever toiled for in this righteous war. 
Be joyous, friends, the end's no longer far; 
The end is close, and in two days, at most, 
We shall have scattered wide the Spanish host. 
We will await them first behind our wall, 
There by our weapons full the half will fall ; 
Should they succeed in entering the town, 
'Twill only lead them to destruction on. 
The wells are sealed; we'll set the town afire, 
And to the rough barranca we'll retire ; 
There, if they follow, we will hurl them down, 



Maria Candelaria. J 5 

Where in the raging waters they will drown. 
In either case, my friends, we'll win the day; 
We'll drive the pale face backward in dismay. 
The lesson learned so well they'll not repeat, 
A second time again to find defeat. 

Anto?iio and Warriors. Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 

'Tis thus the war will end. 
Villagers. {Faintly}. Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 

We'd gladly see it end. 
The Alcalde {to Antonio). I liked not, 
Anton, what he said of burning. 
I am Alcalde now, but of what town 
Am I Alcalde, if Cancuc is burned ? 

Antonio. Have you no feeling for the general 
good? 
To see our cause triumphant would you not 
Yourself apply the torch to these poor huts ? 
Alcalde. Myself? Burn Cancuc ? Now I fully 
see, 
That you're as madly mad as mad can be ! 
Antonio. {To Garcia). Something of weak- 
ness in the crowd I feel. 
Were it not better, general, to insist, 
That choosing twixt surrender and a fight, 
The fight alone will offer any chance ? 



j6 Maria Candelaria. 

Garcia. I see the wisdom of the hint you 
give— 
Another word before we part, my friends ; 
You know how always merciless and cruel 
Vindictive, unforgiving, bloody-deeded, 
Has been the Spanish treatment of the Indian, 
Whenever he opposed their slightest laws. 
Bethink you then what fate awaits us now, 
What torments, tortures, massacres, and burn- 
ings, 
Should we in this revolt admit defeat. 
A thousand times 'twere safer fighting on 
Than yield and suffer from their tiger claws. 
Antonio and Warriors. Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
We'll battle till the death. 

Villagers {Faintly*). Hurrah ! Hurrah ! Per- 
haps tis better so. 

[Exeunt all but the Alcalde, .] 

Alcalde (alone). This comes of choosing a 
hot blooded youth 
To rule a reckless band of armed men. 
A man of wisdom, knowing well the world, 
Risks not his fortune on a single throw. 
'Twere well for me to write to Father Simon, 
Professing I am powerless at this juncture. 



Maria Candelaria. 77 

The house whose walls the widening cracks 

divide, 
The builder skilled will prop on every side. 



78 Maria Candelaria. 



Scene III. The Forest near Cancuc. Moonlight. 
Maria and Juan Garcia. 

Ma7'ia. I could not, Juan, list your urgent 
prayer 
To meet you at this spot and say it nay; 
Yet doubt I deeply that 'tis right in us, 
At this filled time and with the foe so near, 
To waste the moments o'er our own affairs. 

Juan. O say not so, my love, for one short 
hour 
Let us unloose the passions of our hearts. 
One kiss from thee, one lingering, long embrace, 
I needs must have to nerve me to the time 
When I and Death must meet, to-morrow morn. 

Ma? ia {slightly shuddering) . Is it then certain 
that to-morrow's sun 
Will gaze upon the bloody battlefield ? 

Juan. I am informed that at the hour of noon 
Segovia's army will attack our walls. 
To-day his troopers heard a solemn mass 
And each confessed his sins and pardon asked, 
In preparation for the final fray. 
The grinning figure of the God of Bones 
May meet me in the foremost battle file. 



Maria Candelaria. 79 

This hour may be the last for joy and thee. 
Oh let us quaff the cup, ere it be dashed 
In fragments down by his remorseless hands. 

Maria. Speak not such words, dear Juan, 
speak them not ; 
It cannot be the gods will thus forsake 
Me, whom they sought, and chose, and singled 

out 
Of many thousand maids, to speak their will 
And lead our nation to a nobler life. 

Juan. Neither for Christian nor for heathen 
gods 
Care I at all. Thou art my only god ; 
To thee alone my orisons are offered ; 
'Tis thou alone can'st save or wreck my soul ; 
The sun to me were dark shouldst thou be lost ; 
Heaven itself were hell wert thou not there. 
Love is my god, Maria, love of thee! 

O love, forget not, this may be the last — 
For no one knows what battles have in store — 
The last embraces we shall ever give. 
Let this last moment by a supreme joy 
Bid bold defiance to what death can do. 
Let me enlock thy body in my arms, 
A mutual sacrament of love to love. 



80 Maria Candelaria. 

Maria {Restraining him, and loosening his 
hands) . 
I too, love, cherish no higher wish, 
Ask for no richer fruitage of my life, 
Than on thy bosom let my forehead rest, 
And sink in sweet enhancement in thine arms. 
And dear it were to me, O darling Juan, 
To gather many babes upon my knees, 
Thy babes and mine, and see them grow apace, 
Strong youths and merry girls, to found a race 
Neath the free sky of our unfettered land. 

Hope I in vain, and should the gods decree 
That in the bloody rout to-morrow morn, 
Thou art borne lifeless from the sanguine field, 
And I survive to moan that utter ruin, 
Bitterest of all my bitter griefs will be 
That from this fragrant flower and sweetest cup 
I failed the odorous honey-dew to quaff. 

If thou art lost, Juan, and I survive, 
Far from my kin I'll pass my darkened days, 
And chroniclers who seek in after years — 
Gleaning the fragments of our native lore — 
To learn what happened to the Indian maid, 
Who bade defiance to the King of Spain, 
When her brave warriors fell before the foe — 
Nought will they write, for none will be to tell, 



Maria Candelaria. 81 

Her life, though living on, was ended then, 
When Juan Garcia lived to love no more. 

So long the yoke of Spain still galls our necks, 
The gods have warned me that I must abide 
As pure a virgin as the Holy Maid 
When angels brought her tidings from on high 
That in her womb the Son of God was laid. 
Urge me no further, dearest, did I yield 
Death and disaster swift would dash our joy. 

Juan {dejectedly*). How can I see in this thy 
love for me ? 
Did but the thousandth part of passion's flame 
Blaze in thy heart as now consumeth mine, 
Such cold computing of the future's chance 
Would never rob the present of its joy. 

Maria. Little of joy I know, but hard indeed, 
Hardest of all to bear, is this from thee. 
To thee in soul I turned when men maligned 
My acts and called me hard and cruel. 

[Rises and speaks in rapture. ,] 
How could I spare the foe when, lest the cause 

be lost, 
I have not spared my kin, nor yet myself nor 

thee? 
With fasting and with stripes I've tamed my 

body down 



82 Maria Candelaria. 

Lest any thought of sense should darken the 

divine, 
The holy light within, that leads me straightly 

on 
To do the will of God and leave all else aside. 
Look ! Juan, at these arms, and tell me clearly, 

now 
If such as these are meet for amorous embrace ? 

[Shows her arms scarred and bruised with 
repeated flagellation.^ 

Juan {kneels before her) . Forgive me, darling, 
the weak words I said, 
The shameful words, unknowing what I spake. 
More than the love of man, a love divine, 
I bear to thee, O goddess of my soul ; 
More than a mortal now I see thou art, 
And more than mortal love shall fill my heart ; 
To work thy will my utmost aim shall be, 
Finding my full reward in loving thee. 



Maria Candelaria. 83 



Scene IV. Summit of the barranca of Cancuc. 
Juan Garcia bleeding from a vjound, Antonio, 
■warriors ; later, Maria, Gomez, villagers, 
Don Nicolas, Father Simon, Geronymo and 
Sfanish soldiery. 

Juan. Take your position there, Antonio ; 
Behind those rocks, a dozen sturdy fellows 
Can break the heads of half a hundred 

Spaniards, 
As they climb slowly up the narrow footway. 

[Enter villagers in disorder, crying and 
groaning. ,] 

Courage, my friends, we have not lost the day; 
Go farther up the slope, and from its summit 
You'll see us hurl the Spanish soldiers down 
To where the raging waters wait their bones. 

Antonio. I fear me, General, that the main at- 
tack 
Will be by circuit of the deep ravine, 
Flanking our trenches by the forest road. 

Juan. The path is devious, known to very 
few, 
And nought but treachery in the Cancuc folk 
Could find a guide to thread the winding way. 



84 Maria Candelaria. 

[Enter Maria in half art?ior carrying a 
drawn sword, Gomez with a serpent 
wand, his face painted black and red. 
Populace follow them, in fright and dis- 
order.'] 

Maria {in a low voice to Juan). Oh ! Juan, 
thou dost bleed, oh ! tell me true, 
Where is thy hurt ? is it a dangerous wound ? 
Secretly draining thy dear life away ? 

Juan. 'Tis but a scratch, my love, a pike was 
thrust 
Into the muscle of my upper arm. 
My right has still its power to wield 
The sword entrusted to my hands by thee. 
But like the golden well of Custepec, 
A grateful balm, they say, to fevered wounds, 
Charming away the pain by cooling lave, 
Does thy sweet presence heal my smarting flesh. 

Maria. Oh Juan, now I see thy garments 
stained 
With the red blood which drippeth from thy 

wound, 
All my unconquered nature faints and falls, 
And all the world I'd give, and all my hopes 
Of fame and freedom, greatness and command, 



Maria Candelaria. 85 

If thou and I were living far away 

From war and tumult, in some lonely glade, 

Each to the other being all in life. 

{Weeps. ~\ 

Juan. Weep not, Maria; when I see thy tears, 
Despair and desolation rend my heart ; 
The gods have forced us to this fateful hour ; 
And if they do not lend their puissant aid, 
Our cause is lost, and thou and I are slain. 

Maria. Listen, Juan, when all we hope is lost, 
Live thou at least for love and life with me ; 
O'er the barranca's spiked and dizzy edge 
Hang trailing vines a narrow ledge before, 
Which leads within to where our gods are 

shrined. 
Seize thou the vine, ' tis tough as hempen rope, 
And swing in boldly till the ledge is gained. 

Garcia. What would I do, my love, for life 
and thee ? 
But, love, my helpless arm and trickling blood 

declare 
That I must win this field or here must lie. 

Maria. And I shall never leave thee, love, in 
life. 



86 Maria Candelaria. 

Gomez. Come, come, Maria, stand not thus 
apart, 
When frightened women scream to you for 

help, 
And fighting menfolk ask for vig'rous words 
To lend them sinews in the coming fray. 

[Maria goes toward some fugitives a?id en- 
courages them.'] 
Antonio {running in) (to Garcia). Alas ! 
alas ! The worst I feared has come. 
The Spaniards turn our trenches on the right, 
Led by some traitor, by some caitiff hound, 
Who showed the way along the forest trail. 

[Discharge of muskets. Screams and groans. 
Warriors in retreat hurry across the 
stage. Enter Don Nicolas de Segovia, 
wounded ; Father Simon, Balthasar, 
Geronymo and Spanish soldiers. ~\ 
Don Nicolas. Give orders, Balthasar, to spare 
the lives 
Of all who yield and cast their weapons down. 
Good Father Simon brings the bishop's mandate 
To treat with mercy this deluded folk, 
And punish only those who hatched revolt. 

[Balthasar restrains the soldiery. ~\ 



Maria Candelaria. 87 

Don Nicolas {To Geronymo). Stay you by 
me, and if you want your pay, 
Show me at once the arch conspirators, 
The pagan Gomez and the witch his neice, 
Her leman Garcia, and his man Anton ; 
We have them penned, and by the holy cross, 
This time they'll not escape the rope or stake. 

Geronymo. The witch Maria see in armor 
clad ; 
Her uncle he, who's painted red and black ; 
And that is Garcia nearing with drawn sword. 

Don Nicolas {To Garcia). Give up that 
sword or in a moment more 
A bullet speeds your soul to nether hell. 
Yield you at once, or by the saints above, 
The breath you're breathing now will be your 

last. 

Garcia {approaching with his sword reversed 
as if to surrender it). Don Nicolas de 
Segovia, plain it is, 
That not a slightest hope remains for us ; 
Yet ere I yield and give you up my sword, 
I have one final duty to perform — 
To plunge it deeply in this traitor's heart. 

\Kills Geronymo. ~\ 



88 Maria Candelaria. 

Don Nicolas {to Balthasar). Quick, Balt- 
hasar, shoot me this murderer dead. 

[Balthasar fires ; Garcia falls dead.'] 
Maria {rushes forward*). The wrath of all 
the gods I hurl upon you, 
You Christian dogs and murderous miscreants! 
You've slain a hero nobler than your king. 
May the high heavens pour their curses down 
As thick as hailstones in a summer storm 
When Huracan lets loose the raging winds, 
On you and all your race and kin. 

Father Simon. Silence Maria, dare you thus 
to speak 
To me, who taught your infant lips to pray ; 
To me, your priest and father in the Lord, 
Who poured the holy water on your head, 
And thus assured your soul to heavenly life 
If you resisted the allures of hell ? 
Kneel down before this token and proclaim 

[Lifts up the crucifix; soldiers kneel, 
Mai'ia stands.] 
To all here present that you now abjure 
The devil and his works that threat your soul. 
Maria {lapses into a trance). Oh! foolish 
priest ! my mind is rilled with light, 



Maria Candelaria. 89 

A heavenly light, through which I see afar 

To after ages, when a greater God 

Than any that thou knowest shall instruct 

A wider charity for all men's creeds. 

Your church no longer shall enslave their minds, 

Your king's commandments find no echo here ; 

Our race shall breathe in freedom once again, 

From their own lineage choosing their own 

lords ; 
All this I see, and then my dismal tale 
Will draw sad tears from sympathetic eyes 
And touch in kindly hearts responsive chords. 

Don Nicolas. Enough we've heard of this 
girl's pestilent rant. 
Close in upon them, soldiers, drive them up, 
And capture both alive, that later sentence 
May smite them with a fitting penalty. 

[Soldiers close in, Maria and Gomez retire 
slowly to the edge of the barranca and at 
a signal between the??i, spring over it.~\ 

Father Simon. Oh blessed Saints ! They've 
dashed themselves to death. 
Upon the jagged fragments far below. 

Don Nic. Such a conclusion had I not for- 
seen. 
8 



go Maria Candelaria. 

Go quickly, Balthasar, and leaning outward, 
See where their broken bodies may have fallen. 

JBalthasar. {Looks over the edge of the preci- 
pice) . 
Nothing at all I see, nothing alive or dead ; 
The wall falls sheer a hundred varas down, 
Scarce room for here and there some clamber- 
ing vine — 
But yes ! I mark a tiger slinking up the glen, 
A yellow serpent sliding o'er the sand. 

Father Simon {crossing himself). Well do I 
know these diabolic signs : — 
These are their naguals, for by Satan's aid, 
The cunning sorcerers of their damned sect 
Can take at will the shape of bird or beast ; 
As many a sinner dying has confessed, 
To save his soul from endless punishment. 

Don Nicolas. More likely, reverend Father, 
in some crack 
Or hidden fissure of the rocky wall, 
A scanty foothold leads to some retreat. 
I know their crafty wiles, and I misgive 
That from our trap the tricky birds have flown. 
Yet if they sprang right out in middle air, 
And lie in fragments on the rocks below, 



Maria Candelaria. 91 

'Twere but what thousands of their nation did, 
When first we twisted their rebellious necks 
In slow submission to the Spanish yoke. 

At any rate, they're gone ; and let them go, 
The war is ended, and we've whipped the foe. 



NOTES. 

Act I. 

Scene I : The second planting month. — The Tzentals 
still divide the solar year into 18 months of 20 days each, 
beginning about the vernal equinox. For their names, 
etc., see my Native Calendar of Central America, pp. 
40-42. 

The holy tapir. — This animal was worshipped by the 
natives of Chiapas, probably as a solar symbol. See 
my Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphics, pp. 54, 138. 

His eagle floating in the air. — This incident is stated 
to have occurred at the battle of Quetzaltenango. Fuen- 
tes y Guzman, Recordacion Florida, Tom. I., p. 50. 

Mestizo, coyote. — A mestizo is a half-breed from a white 
father and full-blood Indian mother ; a coyote is the child 
of a mestizo and a full -blood native. 

Scene II: The mystic book, our people' 's book. — The 
Popol Vuh, at once a record of the past and a prophecy 
for the future. Bishop de Landa describes the method of 
divination by the sacred books. Relacion de Yucatan, 
p. 287. 

The primal water. — The yax ha, or holy water em- 
ployed in divination. 

The gleaming crystal. — The zaz tun, or white stone, a 
favorite mode of augury. By gazing at it fixedly the 
future would be revealed. Apolinar Garcia y Garcia, 
Historia de la Guerra de Castas de Yucatan, p. xxiv, 
note, gives particulars. 

93 



94 Notes. 

The sacred numbers. The judicial astrology of the 
Mayas and neighboring nations was based on numerical 
relations drawn from the sacred calendar of 260 days. 
The method is described by Father Juan de Cordova, 
Arte Zapoteco, p. 202, 214. 

The herbs. — I have described these and their effects in 
the essay on Nagualism. 

Scene III: The pious brethren. — The narrative of the 
massacre of the priests named is taken principally from 
Juarros, Historia de Guatemala. 

The jade he wears. — Many of the natives continue to 
wear an amulet of stone or shell as a preservative against 
evil influences. 

Scene IV : The Invocations. — Most of the native gods 
mentioned in the invocations are described in the intro- 
duction, I 4. 

Jtidas, Satan, Antichrist. — Nunez de la Vega, bishop 
of Chiapas, says in his work, Constituciones Diocesanas, 
p. 19, that he discovered among the Tzentals written 
formulas appealing to these supposed enemies of the 
Christian doctrine to aid the native sorcerers to destroy it. 
The Elemental forces. — In the myths of the Nahuas 
and Mayas the universe has been destroyed four times, 
by fire, air (the winds), earth (earthquakes) and water 
(the deluge), as each of these elements gained the as- 
cendency. The present is the fifth age of the world. 
The characterization of these elemental forces in the 
text is drawn from the invocations of the nagualists pre- 
served by Father de la Serna in his Manual de Ministros, 
who also mentions the five fingers as called the "five 
fates." 



Notes. 95 

The reciprocal principles of nature. — The doctrine of 
sexuality among the gods and throughout both the ani- 
mate and inanimate world was profoundly rooted in both 
Mayan and Mexican theology. 

The sacred three, etc. — The triad or trinity in native 
American mythology is well known. (See my Myths 
of the New World, pp. 84, 187, etc. ) The cosmos, or 
heaven and earth, consisted of nine degrees or stages, 
therefore Nezahualcoyotl, Prince of Tezcuco, represented 
it by a tower of nine stories. ( See my Ancient Nahuatl 
Poetry, p. 36. ) In the Mayan mythology the tree of 
life is in the center of the earth-plane, and from it four 
streams carry the life-giving waters. 

To the mother of all, etc. — The All-Mother was Cohua- 
cihuatl, the serpent- woman, goddess of birth and also of 
death (Sahagun). The eagle- woman, Quauhcihuatl, 
was a goddess of war. She sometimes also bore the name 
of the Serpent Woman. The " specter maids " were the 
tzitzime, who, in a prophecy recorded by Sahagun, shall 
finally destroy the present universe. 

That stream which flows toward Balancan. — This 
stream is mentioned by Torquemada, Monarquia Indiana, 
Lib. XIV., cap. 38, and various later writers. 

As in that mountain cleft near Comitan. — This is the 
so-called " Pozo-airon," and the story about its powerful 
attraction is told in all soberness by Pineda, Descripcion 
Geografica de Chiapas, p. 21. 

The quetzal bird. — The beautiful bird, the Trogon 
resplendens, was formerly often seen near San Cristobal. 
Its note was heard only in the early spring. Pineda, u. s., 
p. 30. 



96 Notes. 

Act II. 

Scene I : By the holy grandmother of God. — That is, 
St. Anne, who is called by Spanish writers, la Santa 
Abuela de Dios. Her life was written and published in 
Mexico by Father Valdes (1794). 

Scene II: The costume of the serpent woman. — This is 
taken chiefly from Sahagun. Montanus ( quoted by Ban- 
croft ) describes a kind of snake called ibobaca which the 
inhabitants of Chiapas wore living around their necks. 
The serpent wand is a crooked stick, not unlike the 
atlatl, or throwing stick. I have figured it in Mayan 
Hieroglyphics, p. 103. 

Song of the Acolytes. — Paraphrased from a Nahuatl 
war song given in my Ancient Nahuatl Poetry. 

What fine examples these same padres set. — That the 
words here put in the mouth of the Indian Gomez are 
not exaggerated, may be shown by the following extract 
from a clerical biography of one of the bishops of Yuca- 
tan in the last century : " The ignorance and demorali- 
zation of the clergy, the scandalous conduct of the Fran- 
ciscan monks, the utterly wretched condition of the 
Indians and the unrestrained libertinage which prevailed 
could not but cause the bishop serious anxieties." (Quo- 
ted in Apolinar Garcia y Garcia, Historia de la Guerra 
de castas de Yucatan, p. xxix. ) This writer adds that it 
was quite customary to brand the natives with hot irons, 
and the penalty for the lightest offences was one hundred 
blows ! 

Mighty Ococingo, etc. — The imposing ruins of Ococingo 
have been described by Stephens and later travelers. 



Notes. 97 

Comocalco was visited and photographed by Charnay. 
Nachan is one of the native names of the famous ruins of 
Palenque. It means "House of the Serpents." Ac- 
cording to the engineer Marciano Barrera, in his Apuntes 
sobre los Rios de Usumacinta, the whole country between 
Palenque and Tenosique is littered with the remains of 
walls, mounds, and city sites, now concealed by the 
dense tropical jungle. 

The cycle is ending, etc. — Paraphrased from a Mayan 
prophecy, of which I have given the original and a literal 
translation in the Introduction to Prof. Cyrus Thomas' 
Manuscript Troano (Washington, 1882,). 

The war song. — Paraphrased from one given in my 
Ancient Nahuatl Poetry. 

Scene III : The Nahuas. — The Aztecs of Mezico, 
who were and are the principal traders of Chiapas and 
Tabasco. 

The vipers of our grassy glens, etc. — The alleged fact is 
vouched for by Pineda, Descrip. Geograf. p. 25. 

As the black scorpion's touch, etc. — Another of Pineda' s 
assertions, id. p. 25. 

The spring ox avil hu. — These words mean " three 
years' water." According to Herrera, Historia de las 
Indias, Dec. IV., p. 165, and also later writers, there 
is a stream or spring near San Christobal which alter- 
nately remains dry and flows for three years at a time. 

Scene IV : I watched the tortoise. — Certain of the stars 
in the constellation Gemini were called by the Mayas 
acek, the tortoise stars, and were regarded as divinatory. 

Grant him, O leal. — See the introductory section on 
the mythology of the Tzentals. 
9 



98 Notes. 

Act III. 

Scene I : She ordered Lopez, etc. — These statements 
of the cruel orders of Maria are principally from the ac- 
count by Father Pedro Garcia ; but there is no reason to 
doubt them. 

Father Cogolludo. — The author of a Historia de Yuca- 
tan, in the 17th century. 

Scene II : Seized two virgins. — The priestesses of 
Yajalon and Hueteopan. Garcia Pelaez, Memorias 
Historicas, Tom. II., p. 153, etc. 

Scene III : The God of Bones. — In the Mayan manu- 
scripts the god of death is usually pictured as a skeleton, 
and is called Chamay Bac, "Teeth and Bones." 

Scene IV. His face painted red and black. — This cus- 
tom in Chiapas is described by Bancroft. Native Races, 
Vol. I., p. 649. 

The golden well of Custepec. — The "aguadel Dorado," 
a fountain in the valley of Custepec ( Quistepeque ) is 
celebrated for its beneficial effects in disease and its sana- 
tive power on wounds. Pineda, Descripcion Geografica, 
p. 42. 

When Huracan, etc. — The god of the tropical storms, 
the thunder and the whirlwind in Guatemala was Hura- 
kan, possibly a Carib word. Popol Vuh, Chap. II. 

From their own lineage choosing their own lords. — The 
republics of Mexico and Guatemala have elected at vari- 
ious times full-blooded Indians as presidents . 

T'were but what thousands of their nation did. — See 
the Introduction. 



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